Petrevene
Encyclopedia
Petrevene is a village in north central Bulgaria
on the left bank of Zlatna Panega
(Bulgarian: Златна Панега, meaning "Golden Panega") river. It is in Lukovit Municipality
, part of Lovech
Province and lies on the main road E83, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away from the county centre Lukovit
Past versions of its name are: Mramor, meaning "marbel", Petrevo selo, meaning "Peter's village", Petre, Petreven (Bulgarian: Мрамор, Петрево село, Петре, Петревен).
During the Principality of Bulgaria after the end of the Ottoman rule (1878) and until 1908 it was called Petryovene and Petrovene (Bulgarian: Петрьовене, Петровене), still in use in local dialects.
There are several hypotheses about the origin of its name. One is that it was named after the familyhead of the first settlers in the village, Petǎr, however without a historical merit. A more probable hypothesis is that it was named after some Orthodox Christian monk, Petǎr, from a ruined now monastery located at the bridge of the Belenskata River to the south of the village, the ruins of which are called Petrova gradezh, meaning "Peter's structure". However the most likely and most widely accepted hypothesis is that Petrevene is named after the ancient Greek word for stone, "petros" (ancient Greek:πέτρoς), similarly to the Nabataean city of Petra
, due to the numerous sandstone quarries around the village. Indeed, one of its earliest documented names, Mramor (meaning "marbel"), supports this hypothesis.
and Stara Planina, Petrevene lies almost entirely on the left bank
of the river Zlatna Panega. The village is bordered by the hill Belopole to its west and by Zlatna Panega to its east. It is built primarily on terraces which face towards the river and are built into the hillside.
continental
; precipitation being an average of 450 mm (17.7 in) to 550 mm (21.7 in) a year. This is lower than the standard precipitation for the Danubian plain as its proximity to Stara Planina means that the annual rainfall is lower. However since Petrevene lies on the river Zlatna Panega
it is well irrigated and is home to a large amount of natural springs. A lot of these natural springs were then developed and made into public drinking water taps. Among these there are the Rashkovo Kladenche, Blyalata Cheshma and Ibovetz. There is also a tributary
which feeds into the river Zlatna Panega locally known as Dulǎt (Bulgarian: Дулът). Most of the households which lie on either side of Dulǎt use as an open sewer for human and household waste. Although the village does have a minor sewage disposal system it does not extend to the entire village lest why this problem has occurred.
run nature reserve which is managed by the Lukovit
County). Much of the flora
and fauna
present there can also be found in Petrevene. As the agricultural industry in Petrevene diminished, many of the surrounding fields were left un-farmed, and were consequently overrun by wilderness and weeds. This meant that many of the original animals and plants that were driven out in order to make the land fully arable
could now being to restore their presence. On the other hand, many plants common to the sphere of agriculture have been naturalized
and have become commonplace due to the extensive farming. For example wheat can be commonly found around the area.
(Erinaceus concolor), mole (Talpa europaea), blind mole-rats (Nannospalax leucodon), Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius), common vole (Microtus arvalis), wild rabbit (Lepus capensis), hamster (Spermophilus citellus), wildcat (Felis sylvestris), fox (Vulpes vulpes), beech marten (Martes foina), badger (Meles meles), weasel (Mustela nivalis), otter (Lutra lutra), polecat (Mustela putorius), jackal (Canis aureus), cinghiale (Sus scropha) and roe deer. (Capreolus capreolus)
The bird life of the region is quite rich. Most of these bird species are widely spread in the country. Some of these typically inhabit of the fields – partridge
(Perdix perdix), quail (Coturnix coturnix), field-lark (Alauda arvensis), yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava), grey rook (Corvus corone), blue crow (Coracias garrulus), bee-eater (Merops apiaster), others inhabitants of the forests – nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), wood-lark (Lullula arborea), garden warbler (Sylvia atricapilla), long-eared owl (Asio otus), Tawny Owl
(Strix aluco). There are also several birds which inhabit the area that are listed in the Bulgaria section of the IUCN Red List
. These include, (but are not limited to), Black Stork (Ciconia nigra), Pygmy cormorant (Haliaetor pygmeus), Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), Levant Sparrowhawk (Accipiter brevipes) and the Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina). The area is home to many reptiles, among which feature the Great Crested Newt
(Triturus cristatus),
Interestingly, a common occurrence is for these animals to come into contact with the local people, either directly or indirectly. For example badgers, weasels, and beech martens are regularly blamed for attacked local livestock
, (mostly chicken
and small fowl). Indeed, this is a major problem in some instances as jackals, for example, may wander into the village and attack sheep, livestock, and sometimes even guard dogs. For this reason most livestock owners tend to lock up their animals during the night
as well as in the European Register for the rare, threaten of extinction and endemic plants species.
is currently being held by Nikolai Aleksandrov Ivanov, from the Bulgarian Socialist Party
(BSP). He has held the post since 2003 and will remain mayor at least until 2011 when the next local elections are planned.
As part of the village's public services
and institutions, there exist a post office
, an Orthodox Christian church and a public library
, which covers a total of 190 square metres (2,045.1 sq ft), contains 4786 volumes and hosts a community centre. There are a total of 40 registered members of the library.
population of Petrevene, along with that of several other villages in the region, adhered to Paulicianism
, a religious sect persecuted by the officials.
The village was included in the Ottoman tax registry from the beginning of the Ottoman era, where it is listed as Miramor, Betreve sele (Mramor, Petrevo selo, 1430) and Betre (Petre, 1585).
According to Felix Kanitz, its name in 1882 was Petreven.
It is thought that that in the 17th century its inhabitants were converted to the Islam
and adopted the name Pomaks
(Muslim Bulgarians
).
By the end of the Ottoman rule (1878) Petrevene would have primarily been a Pomak village, with only 2-3 families of Orthodox Christian Bulgarians – grocers and craftsmen from the town of Teteven
(Tetevene, Tetyuvene).
The post-Ottoman era brought a wave of Orthodox Christian Bulgarian settlers to Petrevene from the villages of Brusen, Vidrare and its hamlets Smolevica, Kraeva Bachiya, etc.
Their previous property was bought, transferred to, or abandoned and acquired by the remaining inhabitants.
Initially, the marriages among the new generations of Bruseners and Vidrareans were banned, due possibly to their coming from and belonging to different dioceses.
The first mayor of Petrevene after the end of the Ottoman rule (1878) was Tono Benchev, born in Smolevica, part of Vidrare.
The Unification of Bulgaria (1885) brought an exodus of Pomaks to East Thrace, mainly to the town of Chorlu, now in Turkey, so that in 1893 there were only 22 Pomaks left in the village.
The land and homes of Pomaks were thereby bought, transferred to, or abandoned and acquired by the remaining villagers.
Several Italian quarrymen settled in Petrevene at the beginning of the 20 century and created many skillful gravestones in the village cemetery.
An elementary school was founded in Petrevene after the end of the Ottoman rule (1878).
Until 1891 it was located in a Pomak house, when the current schoolhouse (now derelict) was built by the native Stoyu Stanev and the former schoolhouse became the Village Hall.
Andrey Gadzhovski from Lukovit (born the village of Dranchevo in the Macedonian area) and Marko Markov, born in the town of Karlovo, were appointed as first teachers.
The first teacher born in Petrevene was Velyu Ninov.
In 1890s the village was visited by Stefan Stambolov
, the Prime Minister of the time during his travels in the Principality of Bulgaria
.
By the end of the Ottoman rule (1878) and for a brief period during the post-Ottoman era approximately in the center of the village there was a mosque
, destroyed during the end of the 19th or the beginning of the 20th century, due to the strong anti-islamism and nationalism
existing in the post-Ottoman era of the Principality of Bulgaria
, and its materials were incorporated in the current Orthodox Christian
church constructed by builders from the Trǎn region in 1902.
During the Kingdom of Bulgaria
a Community Center with Library
, named Probuda, (Bulgarian: Пробуда, meaning "awakening") was set up in 1918 by Yosif Benchev, born in Petrevene, and a middle school opened in 1921.
A Village Cooperative Bank was founded in 1927 with Toma Yosifov, born in Petrevene, as a director and Todor Dikov as a chairman.
It used to have a total of about 923 registered members from Petrevene and the neighboring villages of Oreshene, Todorichene, Belenci and Rumyancevo.
A Village Cooperative named Zhetvarka, meaning "harvesterwoman", was founded by Toma Yosifov, who pushed a broad construction program to build a village wine cellar, a diary cellar and an industrial incubator with a chicken nursery.
Petrevene was "The Model-Village of the Kingdom of Bulgaria
" for 1942.
Petrevene's population remained almost unaffected by the two World Wars, with only a small number of inhabitants going off to participate and less fifty actually lost their lives. They are all commemorated on a limestone monument in the village's main square.
With the compulsory collectivization (1956) in the People's Republic of Bulgaria during the communist rule in the post-monarchist era, and the establishment of a Working Peasant Cooperatives' Federation (ТКЗC), Petrevene's fields became collectively farmed and managed, and its agricultural capacity grew and became modernized. Twenty percent of the fields were allotted to the villagers for the their own personal cultivation, but they were still required to work with the WPCF on the main fields. A system was set up where every farmer was entitled to four tons of wheat for personal consumption per year. Four tons being too much to consume or use, the farmers were then encouraged to return two tons to the newly-built WPCF bakery in exchange for coupons entitling them to two loafs of black, and one of white, bread a day.
It the 1960s the immigration of Bulgarian Roma, (often referred to as gypsies), into the village helped keep open the local school, (now closed) which had seen a decline in admissions as people left Petrevene for larger cities. The railroad to the cement plant "Zlatna Panega" was designed in the 1960s to pass through Cherven Bryag
, Lukovit
and to go along the periphery of Petrevene by the railroad engineer Vasil Tonev, born in Petrevene, and the railway station "Petrevene" was constructed.
After the end of the communist rule in the Republic of Bulgaria (1989) the WPCF was dissolved (although other villages retained theirs and privatized them), and became derelict.
Petrevene's agricultural output and capacity were reduced severely. The collectivized fields were then divided as they were prior to the collectivization and returned to their original owners.
However, many of agricultural workers had chosen to go into retirement and became state pensioned.
Many of the younger families took the opportunity that democracy
in the Republic of Bulgaria had offered them and settled in larger cities for economical reasons.
As a result a large amount of the fields and vineyards that had previously dominated the landscape became abandoned and uncultivated, and the village's population shrank rapidly. Additionally due the economic crisis that followed, and very low state pensions many owners were unable to afford the upkeep of their home meaning that a large amount of the houses fell into disrepair.
Recently Petrevene has enjoyed a revival with Bulgaria's overall economic growth
, as well as the re-cultivation of many of the fields. Additionally increased incomes mean that many people can now afford to improve their homes. There have also been several commercial developments spurred by a competent administration, including the establishment of a new bakery, Lazarov Komers
, and a motorbike rally.
In August 2005, along with the rest of Bulgaria, Petrevene experienced heavy flooding.
As a result the drainage
canal and river tributary
Dulǎt was widened, dredged and in more central areas covered over in concrete blocks to protect from erosion and to ease future floods. This was achieved using money from the EU Solidarity Fund which at the time had allocated 106 million euros to aide the crisis.
After Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007 some villagers were able to benefit from the SAPARD
program for agricultural and rural development, and as of April 2009 some sections of the WPCF have been restored to working order. Furthermore the Dulǎt tributary now has two new bridges, (both built in 2008) running across it.
There is very little that is of any cultural significance beyond the Church and the Library
in Petrevene, however the village does harbor many historic buildings mostly built in the early 20th and late 19th centuries, with some buildings dating as far back as the 18th century. However many of these buildings are now decrepit and derelict as the village population shrunk heavily during the post-communist era, with many owners either emigrating to larger cities and leaving their land behind, or simply dying out due to old age and leaving their property to descendants who were unwilling or unable to maintain it.
With the massive collectivization of 1956, the village became an agricultural community.
Watermelon Day is a popular annual celebration
within Petrevene celebrated every year on the penultimate Saturday of August. It was first held in 1936 and it is a popular belief within the village that it started of as a regional land dispute between Petrevene and the nearby village of Todorichene. The legend, according to the local people, is that several bad harvests had impelled the Petrevenians to place claims on lands of Todorichene. To settle the dispute that followed a regional judge was brought in from Pleven
to settle the matter. He declared that everyone should be assigned 1.5 square kilometre (0.579153237888803 sq mi) of land. With the lack of wheat the Petrevenians then decide to plant watermelon
instead, however with no market for them the younger men of the village decide to collect all the watermelons and store them in the schoolhouse and let anyone eat as much as they want for free, but on the condition that they would first see the caricaturist Nicola Velev's exhibition in the library. Although popular, the story has little historical basis. Although there have been records of Watermelon Day going as far back as 1936, no existing records tell of bad harvests in the years prior to that date or, of the above mentioned land divisions.
By the end of the Ottoman rule (1878) approximately in the center of the village there existed a mosque
, as the bulk of its inhabitants were Pomaks
(Muslim Bulgarian
). At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century it was destroyed and its materials were used to build the current Orthodox Christian
church in 1902. In 2009 the church, which had fallen into disrepair received extensive restoration work. The restoration was funded by the Ministry of Disasters and Accidents, (now known as the Ministry of Emergency Situations), with total of €104,000 being released to the local government. The church is set to be re-opened and blessed by a priest on 8 September 2009. The village obrok (Bulgarian: оброк) was recently restored. The obrok would have been a holy site, where the elders of the village would have met and would have discussed. It is located at one of the highest points surrounding the village, so as to have been as close to God as possible. The original obrok was first erected in 1923, and was made of stone. The new obrok is constructed from steel except for the structure's bell which is made from copper and was the village's church's original bell.
memorial
to Petrevene's casualties in the First
and Second World Wars
, as well as the Balkan Wars
, was unveiled on August 23, 2003. It lists the 26 citizens of Petrevene who lost their lives between 1912 and 1945..
A 2008 National Academy of Arts
incentive has seen the introduction of two new sculptures to the village, one at the beginning of the village and one near the end, (going along the E83). There were designed and constructed by two students of the academy, Ivan Stoyanov and Valko Bekirski.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
on the left bank of Zlatna Panega
Zlatna Panega River
The Zlatna Panega is a river in central northern Bulgaria, originating from a karst source at the village of Zlatna Panega, Yablanitsa municipality, Lovech Province. Zlatna Panega's source is the largest Karst source in Bulgaria and the water temperature is relatively constant throughout the year...
(Bulgarian: Златна Панега, meaning "Golden Panega") river. It is in Lukovit Municipality
Lukovit Municipality
Lukovit Municipality is a municipality in Lovech Province, Central-North Bulgaria, located from the Fore-Balkan area to the southern parts of Danubian Plain...
, part of Lovech
Lovech
Lovech is a town in north-central Bulgaria with a population of 36,296 as of February 2011. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The town is located about 150 km northeast from the capital city of Sofia...
Province and lies on the main road E83, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away from the county centre Lukovit
Etymology
Petrevene was first recorded in a written document in the far 1430.Past versions of its name are: Mramor, meaning "marbel", Petrevo selo, meaning "Peter's village", Petre, Petreven (Bulgarian: Мрамор, Петрево село, Петре, Петревен).
During the Principality of Bulgaria after the end of the Ottoman rule (1878) and until 1908 it was called Petryovene and Petrovene (Bulgarian: Петрьовене, Петровене), still in use in local dialects.
There are several hypotheses about the origin of its name. One is that it was named after the familyhead of the first settlers in the village, Petǎr, however without a historical merit. A more probable hypothesis is that it was named after some Orthodox Christian monk, Petǎr, from a ruined now monastery located at the bridge of the Belenskata River to the south of the village, the ruins of which are called Petrova gradezh, meaning "Peter's structure". However the most likely and most widely accepted hypothesis is that Petrevene is named after the ancient Greek word for stone, "petros" (ancient Greek:πέτρoς), similarly to the Nabataean city of Petra
Petra
Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited...
, due to the numerous sandstone quarries around the village. Indeed, one of its earliest documented names, Mramor (meaning "marbel"), supports this hypothesis.
Geography
On the edge of the Danubian plainDanubian Plain (Bulgaria)
The Danubian Plain constitutes the northern part of Bulgaria, situated north of the Balkan Mountains and south of the Danube. Its western border is the Timok River and to the east it borders the Black Sea. The plain has an area of . It is about long and wide.The relief of the Danubian Plain is...
and Stara Planina, Petrevene lies almost entirely on the left bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
of the river Zlatna Panega. The village is bordered by the hill Belopole to its west and by Zlatna Panega to its east. It is built primarily on terraces which face towards the river and are built into the hillside.
Climate and drainage
The climate is well-defined temperateTemperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
continental
Continental climate
Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby...
; precipitation being an average of 450 mm (17.7 in) to 550 mm (21.7 in) a year. This is lower than the standard precipitation for the Danubian plain as its proximity to Stara Planina means that the annual rainfall is lower. However since Petrevene lies on the river Zlatna Panega
Zlatna Panega River
The Zlatna Panega is a river in central northern Bulgaria, originating from a karst source at the village of Zlatna Panega, Yablanitsa municipality, Lovech Province. Zlatna Panega's source is the largest Karst source in Bulgaria and the water temperature is relatively constant throughout the year...
it is well irrigated and is home to a large amount of natural springs. A lot of these natural springs were then developed and made into public drinking water taps. Among these there are the Rashkovo Kladenche, Blyalata Cheshma and Ibovetz. There is also a tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
which feeds into the river Zlatna Panega locally known as Dulǎt (Bulgarian: Дулът). Most of the households which lie on either side of Dulǎt use as an open sewer for human and household waste. Although the village does have a minor sewage disposal system it does not extend to the entire village lest why this problem has occurred.
Nature
Petrevene is located 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) away from Geopark Iskǎr-Panega, (a UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
run nature reserve which is managed by the Lukovit
Lukovit
Lukovit is a town in northern Bulgaria, part of Lovech Province. It is situated on both banks of the Zlatna Panega between the Danubian Plain and the foot of Stara Planina. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 9,630 inhabitants....
County). Much of the flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
present there can also be found in Petrevene. As the agricultural industry in Petrevene diminished, many of the surrounding fields were left un-farmed, and were consequently overrun by wilderness and weeds. This meant that many of the original animals and plants that were driven out in order to make the land fully arable
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
could now being to restore their presence. On the other hand, many plants common to the sphere of agriculture have been naturalized
Naturalisation (biology)
In biology, naturalisation is any process by which a non-native organism spreads into the wild and its reproduction is sufficient to maintain its population. Such populations are said to be naturalised....
and have become commonplace due to the extensive farming. For example wheat can be commonly found around the area.
Fauna
The surrounding country side is home to many animals and types of wildlife, however it should be noted that most of the animals present in the region can be observed in other areas of Bulgaria. The variety of mammals in the region, for example, is quite rich. Species that are widely spread throughout Bulgaria are predominant here: these include hedgehogsPorcupine
Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...
(Erinaceus concolor), mole (Talpa europaea), blind mole-rats (Nannospalax leucodon), Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius), common vole (Microtus arvalis), wild rabbit (Lepus capensis), hamster (Spermophilus citellus), wildcat (Felis sylvestris), fox (Vulpes vulpes), beech marten (Martes foina), badger (Meles meles), weasel (Mustela nivalis), otter (Lutra lutra), polecat (Mustela putorius), jackal (Canis aureus), cinghiale (Sus scropha) and roe deer. (Capreolus capreolus)
The bird life of the region is quite rich. Most of these bird species are widely spread in the country. Some of these typically inhabit of the fields – partridge
Partridge
Partridges are birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are a non-migratory Old World group.These are medium-sized birds, intermediate between the larger pheasants and the smaller quails. Partridges are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East...
(Perdix perdix), quail (Coturnix coturnix), field-lark (Alauda arvensis), yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava), grey rook (Corvus corone), blue crow (Coracias garrulus), bee-eater (Merops apiaster), others inhabitants of the forests – nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), wood-lark (Lullula arborea), garden warbler (Sylvia atricapilla), long-eared owl (Asio otus), Tawny Owl
Tawny Owl
The Tawny Owl or Brown Owl is a stocky, medium-sized owl commonly found in woodlands across much of Eurasia. Its underparts are pale with dark streaks, and the upperparts are either brown or grey. Several of the eleven recognised subspecies have both variants...
(Strix aluco). There are also several birds which inhabit the area that are listed in the Bulgaria section of the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
. These include, (but are not limited to), Black Stork (Ciconia nigra), Pygmy cormorant (Haliaetor pygmeus), Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), Levant Sparrowhawk (Accipiter brevipes) and the Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina). The area is home to many reptiles, among which feature the Great Crested Newt
Great Crested Newt
The Great Crested Newt, also called Northern Crested Newt or Warty Newt is a newt in the family Salamandridae, found across Europe and parts of Asia.-Distribution:...
(Triturus cristatus),
Interestingly, a common occurrence is for these animals to come into contact with the local people, either directly or indirectly. For example badgers, weasels, and beech martens are regularly blamed for attacked local livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
, (mostly chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
and small fowl). Indeed, this is a major problem in some instances as jackals, for example, may wander into the village and attack sheep, livestock, and sometimes even guard dogs. For this reason most livestock owners tend to lock up their animals during the night
Flora
According to the botanical – geographic partition of Bulgaria Petrevene falls in Euro-Asian steppe area and forest steppe area, specifically Illyrian province, part of the Pre-Balkan Range, Troyan-Tǎrnovo area.. As with much of the fauna, many of the plants present can be found in the Geopark Iskǎr-Panega. The area is home to a rich variety of flora, as many plant species are distributed on the limestone terrains of Petreven's region within Bulgaria. Among them there are some rare and endemic plants, which are decreasing throughout Bulgaria. These include endemic species like Urum, (Seseli degenii), a plant endemic of the area, (found primarily within the central section of the Pre-Balkan area), which is listed in the Bulgaria section of the IUCN Red ListIUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
as well as in the European Register for the rare, threaten of extinction and endemic plants species.
Government
The post of mayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
is currently being held by Nikolai Aleksandrov Ivanov, from the Bulgarian Socialist Party
Bulgarian Socialist Party
The Bulgarian Socialist Party is social-democratic political party in Bulgaria and successor to the Bulgarian Communist Party. The BSP is a member of the Party of European Socialists and Socialist International, and is currently led by Sergei Stanishev....
(BSP). He has held the post since 2003 and will remain mayor at least until 2011 when the next local elections are planned.
Public services
Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly or by financing private provision of services. The term is associated with a social consensus that certain services should be available to all, regardless of income...
and institutions, there exist a post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, an Orthodox Christian church and a public library
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
, which covers a total of 190 square metres (2,045.1 sq ft), contains 4786 volumes and hosts a community centre. There are a total of 40 registered members of the library.
History
The medievalMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
population of Petrevene, along with that of several other villages in the region, adhered to Paulicianism
Paulicianism
Paulicians were a Christian Adoptionist sect and militarized revolt movement, also accused by medieval sources as Gnostic and quasi Manichaean Christian. They flourished between 650 and 872 in Armenia and the Eastern Themes of the Byzantine Empire...
, a religious sect persecuted by the officials.
The village was included in the Ottoman tax registry from the beginning of the Ottoman era, where it is listed as Miramor, Betreve sele (Mramor, Petrevo selo, 1430) and Betre (Petre, 1585).
According to Felix Kanitz, its name in 1882 was Petreven.
It is thought that that in the 17th century its inhabitants were converted to the Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and adopted the name Pomaks
Pomaks
Pomaks is a term used for a Slavic Muslim population native to some parts of Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo. The Pomaks speak Bulgarian as their native language, also referred to in Greece and Turkey as Pomak language, and some are fluent in Turkish,...
(Muslim Bulgarians
Bulgarian Muslims
The Bulgarian Muslims or Muslim Bulgarians are Bulgarians of the Islamic faith. They are generally thought to be the descendents of Slavs who converted to Islam during Ottoman rule...
).
By the end of the Ottoman rule (1878) Petrevene would have primarily been a Pomak village, with only 2-3 families of Orthodox Christian Bulgarians – grocers and craftsmen from the town of Teteven
Teteven
Teteven is a town on the banks of the Vit river, at the foot of Stara Planina mountain in north central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Teteven Municipality which is a part of Lovech Province. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 10,613 inhabitants.The town...
(Tetevene, Tetyuvene).
The post-Ottoman era brought a wave of Orthodox Christian Bulgarian settlers to Petrevene from the villages of Brusen, Vidrare and its hamlets Smolevica, Kraeva Bachiya, etc.
Their previous property was bought, transferred to, or abandoned and acquired by the remaining inhabitants.
Initially, the marriages among the new generations of Bruseners and Vidrareans were banned, due possibly to their coming from and belonging to different dioceses.
The first mayor of Petrevene after the end of the Ottoman rule (1878) was Tono Benchev, born in Smolevica, part of Vidrare.
The Unification of Bulgaria (1885) brought an exodus of Pomaks to East Thrace, mainly to the town of Chorlu, now in Turkey, so that in 1893 there were only 22 Pomaks left in the village.
The land and homes of Pomaks were thereby bought, transferred to, or abandoned and acquired by the remaining villagers.
Several Italian quarrymen settled in Petrevene at the beginning of the 20 century and created many skillful gravestones in the village cemetery.
An elementary school was founded in Petrevene after the end of the Ottoman rule (1878).
Until 1891 it was located in a Pomak house, when the current schoolhouse (now derelict) was built by the native Stoyu Stanev and the former schoolhouse became the Village Hall.
Andrey Gadzhovski from Lukovit (born the village of Dranchevo in the Macedonian area) and Marko Markov, born in the town of Karlovo, were appointed as first teachers.
The first teacher born in Petrevene was Velyu Ninov.
In 1890s the village was visited by Stefan Stambolov
Stefan Stambolov
Stefan Nikolov Stambolov was a Bulgarian politician, who served as Prime Minister and regent. He is considered one of the most important and popular "Founders of Modern Bulgaria", and is sometimes referred to as "the Bulgarian Bismarck".- Early years :Stambolov was born in Veliko Tarnovo...
, the Prime Minister of the time during his travels in the Principality of Bulgaria
Principality of Bulgaria
The Principality of Bulgaria was a self-governing entity created as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. The preliminary treaty of San Stefano between the Russian Empire and the Porte , on March 3, had originally proposed a significantly larger Bulgarian territory: its...
.
By the end of the Ottoman rule (1878) and for a brief period during the post-Ottoman era approximately in the center of the village there was a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, destroyed during the end of the 19th or the beginning of the 20th century, due to the strong anti-islamism and nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
existing in the post-Ottoman era of the Principality of Bulgaria
Principality of Bulgaria
The Principality of Bulgaria was a self-governing entity created as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. The preliminary treaty of San Stefano between the Russian Empire and the Porte , on March 3, had originally proposed a significantly larger Bulgarian territory: its...
, and its materials were incorporated in the current Orthodox Christian
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
church constructed by builders from the Trǎn region in 1902.
Kingdom of Bulgaria
The Kingdom of Bulgaria was established as an independent state when the Principality of Bulgaria, an Ottoman vassal, officially proclaimed itself independent on October 5, 1908 . This move also formalised the annexation of the Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia, which had been under the control...
a Community Center with Library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, named Probuda, (Bulgarian: Пробуда, meaning "awakening") was set up in 1918 by Yosif Benchev, born in Petrevene, and a middle school opened in 1921.
A Village Cooperative Bank was founded in 1927 with Toma Yosifov, born in Petrevene, as a director and Todor Dikov as a chairman.
It used to have a total of about 923 registered members from Petrevene and the neighboring villages of Oreshene, Todorichene, Belenci and Rumyancevo.
A Village Cooperative named Zhetvarka, meaning "harvesterwoman", was founded by Toma Yosifov, who pushed a broad construction program to build a village wine cellar, a diary cellar and an industrial incubator with a chicken nursery.
Petrevene was "The Model-Village of the Kingdom of Bulgaria
Kingdom of Bulgaria
The Kingdom of Bulgaria was established as an independent state when the Principality of Bulgaria, an Ottoman vassal, officially proclaimed itself independent on October 5, 1908 . This move also formalised the annexation of the Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia, which had been under the control...
" for 1942.
Petrevene's population remained almost unaffected by the two World Wars, with only a small number of inhabitants going off to participate and less fifty actually lost their lives. They are all commemorated on a limestone monument in the village's main square.
With the compulsory collectivization (1956) in the People's Republic of Bulgaria during the communist rule in the post-monarchist era, and the establishment of a Working Peasant Cooperatives' Federation (ТКЗC), Petrevene's fields became collectively farmed and managed, and its agricultural capacity grew and became modernized. Twenty percent of the fields were allotted to the villagers for the their own personal cultivation, but they were still required to work with the WPCF on the main fields. A system was set up where every farmer was entitled to four tons of wheat for personal consumption per year. Four tons being too much to consume or use, the farmers were then encouraged to return two tons to the newly-built WPCF bakery in exchange for coupons entitling them to two loafs of black, and one of white, bread a day.
It the 1960s the immigration of Bulgarian Roma, (often referred to as gypsies), into the village helped keep open the local school, (now closed) which had seen a decline in admissions as people left Petrevene for larger cities. The railroad to the cement plant "Zlatna Panega" was designed in the 1960s to pass through Cherven Bryag
Cherven Bryag
Cherven Bryag is a town in northern Bulgaria, a capital of the Cherven Bryag municipality, Pleven Province. It is situated on the right shore of the Zlatna Panega in river Iskar, 137 km north-east of Sofia, 53 km south-west of Pleven, 12 km north-west of Lukovit, 56 km east...
, Lukovit
Lukovit
Lukovit is a town in northern Bulgaria, part of Lovech Province. It is situated on both banks of the Zlatna Panega between the Danubian Plain and the foot of Stara Planina. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 9,630 inhabitants....
and to go along the periphery of Petrevene by the railroad engineer Vasil Tonev, born in Petrevene, and the railway station "Petrevene" was constructed.
After the end of the communist rule in the Republic of Bulgaria (1989) the WPCF was dissolved (although other villages retained theirs and privatized them), and became derelict.
Petrevene's agricultural output and capacity were reduced severely. The collectivized fields were then divided as they were prior to the collectivization and returned to their original owners.
However, many of agricultural workers had chosen to go into retirement and became state pensioned.
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
in the Republic of Bulgaria had offered them and settled in larger cities for economical reasons.
As a result a large amount of the fields and vineyards that had previously dominated the landscape became abandoned and uncultivated, and the village's population shrank rapidly. Additionally due the economic crisis that followed, and very low state pensions many owners were unable to afford the upkeep of their home meaning that a large amount of the houses fell into disrepair.
Recently Petrevene has enjoyed a revival with Bulgaria's overall economic growth
Economic growth
In economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...
, as well as the re-cultivation of many of the fields. Additionally increased incomes mean that many people can now afford to improve their homes. There have also been several commercial developments spurred by a competent administration, including the establishment of a new bakery, Lazarov Komers
, and a motorbike rally.
In August 2005, along with the rest of Bulgaria, Petrevene experienced heavy flooding.
As a result the drainage
Drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from an area. Many agricultural soils need drainage to improve production or to manage water supplies.-Early history:...
canal and river tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
Dulǎt was widened, dredged and in more central areas covered over in concrete blocks to protect from erosion and to ease future floods. This was achieved using money from the EU Solidarity Fund which at the time had allocated 106 million euros to aide the crisis.
After Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007 some villagers were able to benefit from the SAPARD
Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development
SAPARD was established in June 1999 by the Council of the European Union to help countries of Central and Eastern Europe deal with the problems of the structural adjustment in their agricultural sectors and rural areas, as well as in the implementation of the acquis communautaire concerning the...
program for agricultural and rural development, and as of April 2009 some sections of the WPCF have been restored to working order. Furthermore the Dulǎt tributary now has two new bridges, (both built in 2008) running across it.
Culture and traditions
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
in Petrevene, however the village does harbor many historic buildings mostly built in the early 20th and late 19th centuries, with some buildings dating as far back as the 18th century. However many of these buildings are now decrepit and derelict as the village population shrunk heavily during the post-communist era, with many owners either emigrating to larger cities and leaving their land behind, or simply dying out due to old age and leaving their property to descendants who were unwilling or unable to maintain it.
With the massive collectivization of 1956, the village became an agricultural community.
Watermelon Day
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
within Petrevene celebrated every year on the penultimate Saturday of August. It was first held in 1936 and it is a popular belief within the village that it started of as a regional land dispute between Petrevene and the nearby village of Todorichene. The legend, according to the local people, is that several bad harvests had impelled the Petrevenians to place claims on lands of Todorichene. To settle the dispute that followed a regional judge was brought in from Pleven
Pleven
Pleven is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality...
to settle the matter. He declared that everyone should be assigned 1.5 square kilometre (0.579153237888803 sq mi) of land. With the lack of wheat the Petrevenians then decide to plant watermelon
Watermelon
Watermelon is a vine-like flowering plant originally from southern Africa. Its fruit, which is also called watermelon, is a special kind referred to by botanists as a pepo, a berry which has a thick rind and fleshy center...
instead, however with no market for them the younger men of the village decide to collect all the watermelons and store them in the schoolhouse and let anyone eat as much as they want for free, but on the condition that they would first see the caricaturist Nicola Velev's exhibition in the library. Although popular, the story has little historical basis. Although there have been records of Watermelon Day going as far back as 1936, no existing records tell of bad harvests in the years prior to that date or, of the above mentioned land divisions.
Religion
See also HistoryMosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, as the bulk of its inhabitants were Pomaks
Pomaks
Pomaks is a term used for a Slavic Muslim population native to some parts of Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo. The Pomaks speak Bulgarian as their native language, also referred to in Greece and Turkey as Pomak language, and some are fluent in Turkish,...
(Muslim Bulgarian
Bulgarian Muslims
The Bulgarian Muslims or Muslim Bulgarians are Bulgarians of the Islamic faith. They are generally thought to be the descendents of Slavs who converted to Islam during Ottoman rule...
). At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century it was destroyed and its materials were used to build the current Orthodox Christian
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
church in 1902. In 2009 the church, which had fallen into disrepair received extensive restoration work. The restoration was funded by the Ministry of Disasters and Accidents, (now known as the Ministry of Emergency Situations), with total of €104,000 being released to the local government. The church is set to be re-opened and blessed by a priest on 8 September 2009. The village obrok (Bulgarian: оброк) was recently restored. The obrok would have been a holy site, where the elders of the village would have met and would have discussed. It is located at one of the highest points surrounding the village, so as to have been as close to God as possible. The original obrok was first erected in 1923, and was made of stone. The new obrok is constructed from steel except for the structure's bell which is made from copper and was the village's church's original bell.
Monuments and Sculptures
A limestoneLimestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
memorial
Memorial
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....
to Petrevene's casualties in the First
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and Second World Wars
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, as well as the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
, was unveiled on August 23, 2003. It lists the 26 citizens of Petrevene who lost their lives between 1912 and 1945..
A 2008 National Academy of Arts
National Academy of Arts
The National Academy of Arts is an institution of higher education in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It is the oldest and most renowned academy of arts in the country....
incentive has seen the introduction of two new sculptures to the village, one at the beginning of the village and one near the end, (going along the E83). There were designed and constructed by two students of the academy, Ivan Stoyanov and Valko Bekirski.
External links
- http://www.petrevene.com/en/index.php Official village website, run by the Municipality of Lukovit.
- http://www.guide-bulgaria.com/NC/Lovech/Lukovit/Petrevene
- http://www.fallingrain.com/world/BU/32/Petrevene.html