- Voyvodovo, Vratsa Province
Voyvodovo ( _bg. Войводово, _cz. Vojvodovo) is a village in
Miziya municipality,Vratsa Province ,Bulgaria , at coord|43|39|N|23|51|E. It was founded in 1900, mostly by EvangelistCzechs , but also bySlovaks ,Banat Swabians andBanat Bulgarians , all settlers from the region ofBanat , then inAustria-Hungary .In 1904, Voyvodovo had a population of 410, of whom 215 Czechs, 100 Slovaks, 57
Serbs , 29 Bulgarian Catholics and 9Bulgarian Orthodox . At its recorded peak in 1939, the Czech colony was comprised of 527 people out of 798, the remainder consisting of 104 Slovaks, 148Bulgarians , 13Russians (orRusyns ) and 6 Serbs. There was a Czech school, as well as a Protestant church. The community was deeply religious andpuritan . Czech was the dominant language in the entire village, including among other ethnicities. Themain street was named the Saint Helena Street, after the village of Svatá Helena (todaySfânta Elena ,Caraş-Severin County ,Romania ), out of which most Czechs originated. Voyvodovo was also an outpost for further Czech migration to other villages in Bulgaria, with around 20 Czech families settling in the village ofBelintsi ,Razgrad Province , in 1935.Although all but a dozen families left in 1949-1950 after being recalled to settle depopulated border territories of
Czechoslovakia , the village has largely preserved its characteristically Czech rural architecture. Compared to the Bulgarian village houses, those in Voyvodovo are low and elongated, they are painted white and have red roofs with a blackplinth and narrow windows with wooden shutters. The houses were built ofadobe bricks, each wall approximately 55centimetre s thick. The yards are typically 30×60 metres perpendicular to the street and parallel with the house.There still exists a
Methodist community, which in the early 20th century, under the guidance of pastors Martin Roháček, Gottlieb Koval and Jozef Harmann, was the most prosperous in all Bulgaria. In the 1950s, the almost deserted village was settled by Bulgarians, mostly from the southwestern parts of the country, such asKyustendil ,Belitsa andIhtiman .As of 2008 , the village has a population of 291 and the mayor is Marina Nenova. Voyvodovo lies 10 km from theDanube , south ofOryahovo . The village was named after a certain rebel leader ("voivode ") fromHristo Botev 's band that died in the area in 1876.ee also
*
Czechs and Slovaks in Bulgaria References
*
*
*
*
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.