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Belene ( bg, Белене ) is a
town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...
in
Pleven Province Pleven Province ( bg, Област Плевен or Плевенска Област) is a province located in central northern Bulgaria, bordering the Danube river, Romania and the Bulgarian provinces of Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo and Lovech. It i ...
, Northern
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous
Belene Municipality Belene Municipality ( bg, Община Белене) is a municipality ('' obshtina'') in Pleven Province, northern Bulgaria. It is located along the south bank of Danube river, by the border with Romania. The administrative centre of the area is ...
. The town is situated on the right bank of the
Danube river The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
, close to the town of Svishtov.


Geography


Location

Belene is located in
Pleven Province Pleven Province ( bg, Област Плевен or Плевенска Област) is a province located in central northern Bulgaria, bordering the Danube river, Romania and the Bulgarian provinces of Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo and Lovech. It i ...
- 60 km northeast of the regional centre of
Pleven Pleven ( bg, Плèвен ) 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. It is the biggest ...
and near the town of Svishtov - 26 km. Other nearby towns are Nikopol - 37 km west of Belene and Levski to the south - 46 km.
Belene Municipality Belene Municipality ( bg, Община Белене) is a municipality ('' obshtina'') in Pleven Province, northern Bulgaria. It is located along the south bank of Danube river, by the border with Romania. The administrative centre of the area is ...
is located in the northern central part of the Danube Plain, on the northern state border of
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
with
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. The territory of the municipality is 285,046 decares (285 km²), of which 12,110 decares are the “settlements” fund. For its area it is one of the small municipalities in Bulgaria. It consists of six settlements - the municipal center of Belene and five villages - Dekov, Tatari, Petokladentsi, Kulina voda and Byala voda. The number of inhabitants in the Municipality accounts to 9891.


Climate

Belene has a continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfa) The winters are one of the coldest in Bulgaria but in the summer it gets very hot.


History

Belene is a town with nearly ten centuries of history. Life here has existed since
ancient times Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...
. Five cultural layers have been found in the localized over 20
Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...
mounds. The first ones date from the late Neolithic, continue through the
Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...
and Copper Ages and are evidence of continuous life in these places for 1200 years. From the IV century BC. until the beginning of the I century. these lands were inhabited by the Thracian tribe
Getae The Getae ( ) or Gets ( ; grc, Γέται, singular ) were a Thracian-related tribe that once inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Both the singular form ''Get'' an ...
, also called Dimenzi. Belene originated on the site of an ancient Thracian settlement, later a Roman fortress and customs station Dimum, which lasted until the 1st century. The available data determine its origin in 1086, when part of the
Paulician Paulicianism (Classical Armenian: Պաւղիկեաններ, ; grc, Παυλικιανοί, "The followers of Paul"; Arab sources: ''Baylakānī'', ''al Bayāliqa'' )Nersessian, Vrej (1998). The Tondrakian Movement: Religious Movements in the ...
population after the suppression of the Thracian uprising left the surroundings of Plovdiv and settled near the destroyed and depopulated ancient Roman fortress Dimum (Dum). In the Middle Ages the settlement was called Dunavgrad (Tunaburgos). Traces of a Slavic settlement and an earth fortification have been found in the vicinity of Belene. There is no summary information about the settlement for the period from the 5th to the 15th century. The village is mentioned in Ottoman registers from 1479/80, at that time it was a
Paulician Paulicianism (Classical Armenian: Պաւղիկեաններ, ; grc, Παυλικιανοί, "The followers of Paul"; Arab sources: ''Baylakānī'', ''al Bayāliqa'' )Nersessian, Vrej (1998). The Tondrakian Movement: Religious Movements in the ...
village with 49 households. Later, the Paulicians from the village converted to
Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. About 18 names of the settlement are known from the history and legends. The most popular are: Dimum, Pavlikjansko Belene, Beljansko, Beleni. The Paulicians who settled in it profess one of the varieties of the
Bogomilism Bogomilism ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic or dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar P ...
. On the one hand, they oppose
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
, and on the other, they do not want to accept
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
. In order to save and mitigate the Turkish atrocities from 1605 to 1620, the Paulicians were converted to the Catholic faith by the Bosnian Catholic missionary Bishop Petar Solinat. Despite its admission into the bosom of the Roman Catholic Church, the population retains its language and nationality. The adoption of the Catholic faith has a beneficial effect on the development of Belene. According to
Lyubomir Miletich Lyubomir Miletich ( bg, Любомир Милетич) (14 January 1863 – 1 June 1937) was a leading Bulgarian linguist, ethnographer, dialectologist and historian, as well as the chairman of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences from 1926 to ...
after the pogrom of the Chiprovtsi uprising in 1688, about 2,000 people from Belene moved to Wallachia to escape the Turkish atrocities. After a while, some of them return, but some have already mastered the Romanian language and customs. After the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation from 1877-1878, the Turks emigrated and Bulgarians from the
Gabrovo Gabrovo ( bg, Габрово ) is a town in central northern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Gabrovo Province. It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an internat ...
,
Elena Elena may refer to: People * Elena (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name * Joan Ignasi Elena (born 1968), Catalan politician * Francine Elena (born 1986), British poet Geography * Elena (town), a town in Veliko ...
,
Tryavna Tryavna ( bg, Трявна ) is a town in central Bulgaria, situated in the northern slopes of the Balkan range, on the Tryavna river valley, near Gabrovo. It is famous for its textile industry and typical National Revival architecture, featuring ...
and
Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...
regions settled, leaving Belene with a purely Bulgarian population. On 7th of September 1964 Belene was proclaimed a city. Here was located the biggest labour camp in Bulgaria ( Belene labour camp) after the BCP gained power in 1944. It was created on the island of
Persin Persin is a fungicidal toxin present in the avocado. Persin is an oil-soluble compound structurally similar to a fatty acid, and it leaches into the body of the fruit from the seeds. The relatively low concentrations of persin in the ripe pulp ...
(also known as island Belene) on the
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
during the spring of 1949 with the intentions to put all the prisoners in the country.


Religion

The main confessions in the town are
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonic ...
, with two Roman Catholic and one Orthodox church being present. The Catholic Church of the
Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother ...
was built in 1860, the Eastern Orthodox Church of
St George Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...
in 1874 and the Catholic Church of Saint
Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. He was bo ...
was constructed in 1893. Belene is the birthplace of Blessed Bishop Eugene Bosilkov (1900 - 1952), a martyr for the faith and beatified on March 15, 1998 in St. Peter's Basilica by Pope
John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
In the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Sanctuary with a piece of the relics of Monsignor Bosilkov - a place of worship for believing Christians. Belene was proclaimed a town in 1964,Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Belene in 1964
/ref> which is celebrated every year in the first week of September with a market and cultural events.


Economy

Although about 40% of construction worked and 80% of equipment deliveries for the first unit had been completed in 1991, construction was suspended owing to a lack of financial resources. In 2002, the Government decided to resume the Belene NPP Project and in 2005, the Council of Ministers issued a decision for construction of two 1000 MW units. However, the Council of Ministers decision about the Belene NPP Project was subsequently suspended in 2012. In 2018, the Minister of Energy was assigned to again explore possibilities for construction of the Belene NPP until it was interrupted in 1990 due to the severe economic crisis that followed the fall of communism in the country. There are plans to start construction again as a replacement for reactors 3 and 4 at
Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant The Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Bulgaria situated north of Sofia and east of Kozloduy, a town on the Danube river, near the border with Romania. It is the country's only nuclear power plant and the largest in the ...
, which Bulgaria shut down as a condition for EU membership. The total capacity of the two reactors will be 2,000 MW.


In popular culture

Belene was the focal point for the feature documentary film ''
The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories ''The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories'' is a Bulgarian documentary feature film directed by Andrey Paounov and written by professor Lilia Topouzova. It was included in the 46th International Critics' Week of the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. P ...
'' by
Andrey Paounov Andrey M Paounov (born 1974 bg, Андрей Паунов) is a Bulgarian writer and director best known for his documentary feature films. His debut ''Georgi and the Butterflies'' won the Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary (formerly: Silver Wo ...
The film features some of the town's characters, highlighting their daily plight of a nuclear plant of empty promises and a year-round
mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...
epidemic.


Notable people


Born in Belene

* Eugene Bossilkov (1900 – 1952), member of the
Passionist The Passionists, officially named Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720 with a special emphasis on and d ...
Congregation,
Roman Catholic bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the Chu ...
of Nikopol and
martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
in the
Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
campaign in
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
against religion * Mihail Borozenkov, adventurer * Karl Raev (1881 – 1967), catholic priest * Nikola Aleksiev (.... – 1964), first legislator from Belene


Lived in Belene

* Damjan Talev (1911 – 1998), catholic priest *
Petko Hristov Petko Rosenov Hristov ( bg, Петко Росенов Христов; born 1 March 1999) is a Bulgarian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back for club Venezia F.C. ...
(1950 – 2020) Roman Catholic bishop of Nikopol * Paolo Kortezi (born 1974), catholic priest, passionist


Died in Belene

* Ilolito Agosto (1838 – 1893), Roman Catholic bishop of Nikopol * Alexander Girginov (1879 – 1953), politician * Dimitar Savov (1887 – 1951), politician * Ignat Badov (1919 – 2001), catholic priest, resurrectionist


International relations


Twin towns — sister cities

Belene is twinned with: *
Belleville-sur-Loire Belleville-sur-Loire (, literally ''Belleville on Loire'') is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Geography A farming village with a nuclear power station situated by the banks of the river Loire, some ...
, France *
Devrek Devrek is a town and district in Zonguldak Province in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It was founded as Hamidiye, in the sanjak of Bolu. Devrek was incorporated into the Zonguldak Province on May 14, 1920. It is divided into five quarters, thr ...
, Turkey *
Hajdúsámson Hajdúsámson is a town in Hajdú-Bihar county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. Geography It covers an area of and has a population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether i ...
, Hungary *
Lázně Bělohrad Lázně Bělohrad () is a spa town in Jičín District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,600 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Brtev, Dolní Javoří, Dolní Nová Ves, Horní Nová Ves, Hřídelec, ...
, Czech Republic *
Obninsk Obninsk (russian: О́бнинск) is a city in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the bank of the Protva River southwest of Moscow and northeast of Kaluga. Population: History The history of Obninsk began in 1945 when the First Research In ...
, Russia *
Popești-Leordeni Popești-Leordeni () is a town in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, south of downtown Bucharest, although from the northern edge of the town to the southern edge of Bucharest the distance is less than . Most of its inhabitants commute to Buchare ...
, Romania *
Vigonza Vigonza is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about northeast of Padua. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 20,421 and an area of .All demographics and o ...
, Italy


References

{{Authority control Populated places in Pleven Province Populated places on the Danube Late Neolithic