Berende ( bg, Беренде, ) is a village in
Dragoman Municipality
Dragoman Municipality is a municipality in Sofia Province, 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 Balk ...
,
Sofia Province
Sofia Province ( bg, Софийска област, translit=Sofiyska oblast) is a province (''oblast'') of Bulgaria. The province does not include Sofia in its territories, but Sofia remains its administrative center. The province borders on t ...
, in the westernmost part 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 ...
near the border with
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...
.
Berende is located in the western reaches of the
Balkan Mountains, not far from the banks of the
Nishava River. The distance to the national capital
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
is . Nearby towns are
Godech
Godech ( bg, Годеч ) is a small town located in the Sofia Province, of Bulgaria. The town is founded in a valley on the far west of Stara Planina, where the Nishava River passes. The settlement is about 20 km east of the Serbian borde ...
and the municipal centre
Dragoman
A dragoman or Interpretation was an interpreter, translator, and official guide between Turkish-, Arabic-, and Persian-speaking countries and polities of the Middle East and European embassies, consulates, vice-consulates and trading posts. A ...
, both away.
In 1985, Berende had 79 residents;
in 2011, its population had dwindled to 33.
According to linguist Anna Choleva–Dimitrova, the toponym ''Berende'' stems from the
Pecheneg
The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პაჭ ...
tribe of the
Berendei
The Berendei or Berindei (Romanian: ''Berindei''; Ukrainian: ''Берендеї'', ''Berendeyi''; Russian: ''берендеи'', ''berendei'', ''перендеи'', ''perendei'', ''перендичи''; in Hungarian: ''berendek''; in Polish: ''Be ...
. The Berendei are known to have settled in various parts of the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
around the 10th–12th century.
The village has a medieval
Bulgarian Orthodox
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgarsk ...
church, the
Church of St Peter, which features rich 14th-century interior
frescoes. It is located west of the village, near the Nishava.
Today, the churches lies in the village's old graveyard. Not far from the church on the way linking it to the village is Mosta (Моста, “The Bridge”), a
natural bridge
A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, coastal cliffs, fins or stacks are subject to erosion ...
rock formation.
References
{{Dragoman Municipality
Villages in Sofia Province