Gostilya ( bg, Гостиля; also transliterated ''Gostilja'') is a village in central 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 Macedon ...

, located in

Dolna Mitropoliya Dolna Mitropoliya ( bg, Долна Митрополия , "Lower Bishopric"; also transliterated as Dolna Mitropolia, Dolna Mitropolija) is a town in Pleven Province of northern Bulgaria, the administrative center of Dolna Mitropoliya municipalit ...

municipality,

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 is ...

. It was founded in 1890 by 133 families of

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Banat Bulgarians The Banat Bulgarians ( Banat Bulgarian: ''Palćene'' or ''Banátsći balgare''; common bg, Банатски българи, Banatski balgari; ro, Bulgari bănățeni; sr, / ), also known as Bulgarian Roman Catholics and Bulgarians Paulician ...

from Stár Bišnov (

Dudeștii Vechi Dudeștii Vechi (until 1964 Beșenova Veche; hu, Óbesenyő; german: Altbeschenowa; Banat Bulgarian: ''Stár Bišnov''; sr, Старо Бешеново, Staro Bešenovo) is a commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: C ...

) and

Ivanovo Ivanovo ( rus, Иваново, p=ɪˈvanəvə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Russia. It is the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vlad ...

in what was then

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. It was later also settled by

Banat Swabians The Banat Swabians are an ethnic German population in the former Kingdom of Hungary in Central-Southeast Europe, part of the Danube Swabians. They emigrated in the 18th century to what was then the Austrian Empire's Banat of Temeswar province, la ...

''(see

Germans in Bulgaria ) , population = 436–45,000 , languages = Bulgarian, German , religions = Roman Catholicism and Protestantism (i.e. Evangelical Lutheranism) , related-c = German diaspora Germans ( bg, немци, ''nemtsi'' or ге� ...

)'',

Eastern Orthodox 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 "canonical") ...

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...

and

Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...

from Macedonia, as well as Banat Bulgarians from other villages. A school was built in 1893, the Roman Catholic church was opened in 1904 and the local community centre (''

chitalishte A ''chitalishte'' (, . Derives from the verb "чета" - "to read" or "читател" - "reader") is a typical Bulgarian public institution and building that fulfills several functions at once, such as a community centre, library, and a theat ...

'') was founded in 1926. Gostilya was once the poorest of the Banat Bulgarian villages in Bulgaria because it had a limited

common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

. In 1939, the local Roman Catholic community numbered 1,091. 33 Banat Swabians left Gostilya in 1943 due to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's ''

Heim ins Reich The ''Heim ins Reich'' (; meaning "back home to the Reich") was a foreign policy pursued by Adolf Hitler before and during World War II, beginning in 1938. The aim of Hitler's initiative was to convince all ''Volksdeutsche'' (ethnic Germans) wh ...

'' policy. As of 2008, Gostilya has a population of 289
/sup> and the mayor is Mariana Romanova. The village lies at , 51 metres

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

Gallery

Image:Gostilya 3.JPG, Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1904) Image:Gostilya Roman Catholic church IFB.jpg, Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1904) Image:Gostilya.JPG, Traditional Banat Bulgarian house Image:Gostilya gyski.JPG,

Geese A goose (plural, : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family (biology), family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera ''Anser (bird), Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some o ...

are popularly bred by the Banat Bulgarians as they provide down for pillows and blankets

Honours

Gostilya Point in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

is named after Gostilya.

References

* * * * {{cite news , url=http://www.temanews.com/index.php?p=tema&iid=142&aid=3627 , title=Горчиви корени , last=Ценкова , first=Искра , language=Bulgarian , publisher=ТЕМА , accessdate=2008-08-24 Villages in Pleven Province Populated places established in 1890 Banat Bulgarian people