Samokov (Bulgarian: Самоков) is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in a kettle between the mountains Rila and Vitosha.
Due to the suitable winter sports conditions, Samokov, together with the nearby resort Borovets, is a major tourist centre.
A 1892 painting by Nikola Obrazopisov of the Samokov SchoolIn the past, Samokov was a centre of handicrafts and art, with notable figures like Zahari Zograf, Hristo Dimitrov and Nikola Obrazopisov. The town's name is a compound word of "samo" and "kov", respectively meaning "self" and the root of the verb "forge, hammer", and comes from the samokov, a mechanical forge powered by water, since the town of Samokov was a major iron producing centre during the last two hundred years (18th-19th century) of Ottoman rule of Bulgaria.