Leskovdol ( bg, Лесковдол) is a mountainous village in
Bulgaria situated in Golema mountain, part of the
Balkan mountain range. It is located 45
kilometers north from
Sofia and is part of the
Svoge municipality
Svoge Municipality is located in western Bulgaria and is a part of Sofia Province. It covers a territory of 868,6 km2 and has a population of around 21,000 people, more than 1/3 of which lives in the town of Svoge itself. The municipality also ...
. According to the 2011 census 114 people live in the settlement. Several places of interest are located nearby including the
Seven Altars monastery
The Seven Altars (, ''Sedemte prestola''), officially the Monastery of the Most Holy Mother of God (, ''Manastir „Sveta Bogoroditsa“'') is a Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Bulgarian Orthodox monastery of the Eparchy of Sofia, situated in the we ...
, Izdremets peak and a section of the
Kom–Emine
Kom–Emine ( bg, „Ком – Емине“) is a high-mountain long-distance trail in Bulgaria. The route follows the main ridge of the Balkan Mountains, which bisect the country and give the Balkan Peninsula its name. Beginning at Kom P ...
long-distance footpath.
Etymology
One of the
theories is that the name of the
village comes from the specific
stones
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's o ...
- liska ( bg, лиска) - which could only be found in this area. This local stone was used as a
foundation material for the local houses. The other theory is that Leskov comes from the
Bulgarian word leska ( bg, леска) which means ''
hazel tree''. The Bulgarian word dol is translated in
English as ''small valley''. There are two ways of writing the village's name - ''Leskov dol'' or ''Leskovdol'', although nowadays many people have adopted the merged version. Also on most of the
maps and in official
documents the name is written Leskovdol.
History
It is believed that the
village was founded somewhere between the years 1000 and 1300. The
legend about the founding of the nearby
monastery states that 7
brothers from
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
settled in the mountains around the
monastery and brought their families with them. One of the brothers
settled in the lands of Leskovdol with his
family and thus founded the
village. This is just a
legend but so far no evidence about the
village's history have been found.
Berilova vodenitsa fortress
Historians confirm that around the time of
khan Krum on the
northern
hills above the
village was located a
fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
called Berilova vodenitsa. It is not known when exactly the
fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
was built but it is known that it was renovated during the
time of khan Krum for his march to conquer
Serdica. Today on the
meadows above Leskovdol, near Izdremets peak, one can see numerous scattered
stones
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's o ...
and
rocks. An ancient
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
from
Vratsa to
Serdica also passed nearby.
Ottoman Era
The settlement was recorded as a village and as "Leskovdol" in the Ottoman Tahrir
Defter
A ''defter'' (plural: ''defterler'') was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire.
Description
The information collected could vary, but ''tahrir defterleri'' typically included details of villages, dwellings, household ...
number 370 from 1530. Moreover, in the Tahrir Defter number 151 from 1528 the village had
Voynuk
Voynuks (sometimes called ''voynugans'' or ''voynegans'') were members of the privileged Ottoman military social class established in the 1370s or the 1380s. Voynuks were tax-exempt non-Muslim, usually Slavic, and also non-Slavic Vlach Ottoman ...
households under the Voynugan-ı Istabl-ı Amire military branch, which were Ottoman Christian Soldiers and were tax-exempt.
Wars between 1912 - 1918
20 people from Leskovdol perished in the
wars that took place between 1912 and 1918. Their
name
A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...
s are inscribed into a
memorial plaque on one of the walls of the village
church.
Area
The entire territory of Leskovdol - with all of its
hamlets, forests and meadows - is a little over 26,2 square kilometers.
Nature and landscape
The
landscape
A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...
is steep, typical for the Western
Balkan mountain
The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...
region. Leskovdol is situated from 700 to 1300
meters above
sea level with Vratnitsa being the highest located
hamlet at around 1300 meters. Dirt roads link Leskovdol with its neighbouring villages of Bukovets, Brezovdol, Redina (to the south), Želen (to the west) & Bov (to the north).
Wide mountain
meadows make up to 39,8% of Leskovdol's
territory and are mainly located in the higher parts of the village.
Redinska is the main
river which flows through the territory of the Leskovdol.
Flora & fauna
Forests cover a large percentage of the territory - around 55%. The
conifer
Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...
s are mainly
pines,
spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
s and
fir
Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family (biology), family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North America, North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The ...
s, while the
broad-leaved trees are well represented by multiple species including birches,
fraxinus
''Fraxinus'' (), common name, commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of Subtropics, subtropic ...
, tilias, fruit trees,
hornbeams, walnut trees and
beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
es.
The
fauna in this region is typical for the Western
Balkan mountain
The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...
area. Wolves, wild rabbits, wild boars and hedgehogs inhabit the higher territories and the abandoned hamlets of the village which are not influenced by human activity.
Domestic animals such as sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, cattle, cows and
donkey
The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
s can be seen in the populated hamlets. A small part of Leskovdol's
territory is under the protection of
Natura 2000
Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...
.
Division
The village is divided into a number of
hamlets, although the largest portion of the population is concentrated in the hamlets Selishte, Popov kladenets, Vratnitsa, Kokeleni babki, Svinove and Dobrolevo bardo. ''Lozeto'' ( bg, Лозето) bus stop on the bus route Svoge - Leskovdol marks the border between the territory of Leskovdol village and that of its neighbouring Redina village.
Education
There is a single
school named after
Hristo Botev which shut down years ago. The local children go to the nearby town of
Svoge
Svoge ( bg, Своге, ) is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located in the gorge of the Iskar River, at the place where the mountains Mala planina, Golema planina and Ponor meet, 40 km north of the capital Sofia. Svoge is ...
to continue their
education. The first
village school was built on the
banks of Redinska
river but nowadays it doesn't exist.
Culture
Nowadays the village has no functioning
schools or
chitalishta
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 ...
. Years ago Leskovdol had a
folklore ensemble which performed national dances & songs from
Bulgaria and from the
Svoge
Svoge ( bg, Своге, ) is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located in the gorge of the Iskar River, at the place where the mountains Mala planina, Golema planina and Ponor meet, 40 km north of the capital Sofia. Svoge is ...
region. The
traditions in the village are close to the ones typical for the Svoge and
Sofia regions.
Demographics
At the beginning of the 20th century the population was at least 800 people and continued to enlarge. The
migration towards the cities and the lowering
fertility rate are the biggest problems that kept Leskovdol from growing. The
unemployment is high due to the location of the village in a mountainous region. In
summer
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...
a lot of people, mainly from
Sofia, come to their
villas for the typical summer break.
2011 census
According to the
census held on the 01.02.2011 ''114'' people declared to live in the
village. Only 36 from them are officially
retired.
Buildings
Houses, residential and non-residential buildings cover only around 5% of the entire village
territory.
Most of the old houses in the village were built using
adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
, rocks and wood. In the late 1960s people, mainly from Sofia, bought parcels in the village's
hamlets and started building a second type of houses - villas and
bungalow
A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas.
The first house in England that was classified as a b ...
s - which they used as a residence for their
summer
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...
vacations. The villas are built with modern
building materials and thus create a mixed look of the village with both
typical and new houses forming the background. According to the 2001
census there were 128 local houses, 26 of which
abandoned
Abandon, abandoned, or abandonment may refer to:
Common uses
* Abandonment (emotional), a subjective emotional state in which people feel undesired, left behind, insecure, or discarded
* Abandonment (legal), a legal term regarding property
** Chi ...
, and 619 other
buildings, including villas &
barns.
Economy
Woodcutters can sometimes be seen in this area, especially during late summer. Agriculture and animal breeding are developed in the populated areas.
There is a small
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
and a
shop next to the
village hall. They are open every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Religion
The entire population consists of
Christians. There are three
cemeteries
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
- one nearby the
village hall, one in Dabeto hamlet and another one in Selishte
hamlet, where the village's
church is also located. It has an outdoor
semantron and was built during the period between the two
world wars. It bears the name of Saint Elias. There are no serving
priests since the 1970s.
Transport
The road to Leskovdol diverts from the main road
Sofia -
Mezdra just before entering Svoge. It is 8 kilometers long and is mostly in good condition but only reaches the center of Kokeleni babki hamlet. Apart from that all others roads in the village are
dirt roads. There are two
charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
buses to the village from
Svoge
Svoge ( bg, Своге, ) is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located in the gorge of the Iskar River, at the place where the mountains Mala planina, Golema planina and Ponor meet, 40 km north of the capital Sofia. Svoge is ...
every day - one in the morning and another in the afternoon. On Thursday there is an additional
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
around noon.
Infrastructure
Almost all of the
house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
s have
electricity and
water supply. There are no telephone lines except a telephone post in the village hall. The
postal code is 2268 although the post is delivered only to the village hall. The
TV and radio tower is located in Popov kladenets hamlet. All three
Bulgarian mobile operators
A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a wireless service provider, wireless carrier, cellular company, or mobile network carrier, is a provider of wireless communications services that owns or controls all the elements necessary to sell ...
have complete coverage in Leskovdol. The
village hall shut down in the summer of 1999 due to the continuing diminution of the population.
[http://www.nsi.bg/nrnm/show2.php?sid=20002473&ezik=bul&e=20011938 (in Bulgarian)]
Gallery
File:Leskovdol-view.jpg, Leskovdol viewed from Visokata chukla peak
File:Old-barn-leskovdol.jpg, An old barn build from timber, ''leska' stones' & adobe
File:Leskovdol-bus.jpg, Buses to Leskovdol at the Svoge bus station
File:White-adobe-house.jpg, Abandoned adobe house
File:Leskovdol-sunset-view.jpg, View of the village from Leške hamlet
External links
References
;Notes
{{Reflist}
Villages in Sofia Province