Bardarski Geran (; Banat Bulgarian: ''Bardársći Gjeránj'' or ''Bardáre'') is a village in northwestern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, part of Byala Slatina Municipality,

Vratsa Province Vratsa Province ( ''Oblast Vraca'', former name Vraca okrug) is a Bulgarian province located in the northwestern part of the country, between Danube river in the north and Stara Planina mountain in the south. It is named after its main town: ...

. It is among the several villages founded by

Banat Bulgarians The Banat Bulgarians ( Banat Bulgarian: ''Palćene'' or ''Banátsći balgare''; common ; ; ), also known as Bulgarian Roman Catholics, Bulgarian Latin Catholics and Bulgarians Paulicians or simply as Paulicians, are a distinct Bulgarian minorit ...

returning from the

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

after the

Liberation of Bulgaria The Liberation of Bulgaria is the historical process as a result of the Bulgarian Revival. In Bulgarian historiography, the liberation of Bulgaria refers to those events of the Tenth Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) that led to the re-establishme ...

from Ottoman rule in 1878, and is thus predominantly

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. It is regarded as "the capital of Banat Bulgarians in Bulgaria" by certain members of the community.

Geography

The village of Bardarski Geran is located in the western part of the Danube plain, near its most fertile field Zlatiyata, known in the past as the granary of Western

. The climate is temperate continental with pronounced temperature amplitudes. Spring is cool, summer - dry and hot, winter - cold.

History and culture

The village was founded in 1887, mostly by Banat Bulgarian settlers (initially 185 families) from

Dudeștii Vechi Dudeștii Vechi (until 1964 Beșenova Veche; Banat Bulgarian dialect, Banat Bulgarian: ''Stár Bišnov''; ; ; ) is a communes of Romania, commune in Timiș County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Cheglevici, Colonia Bulgară and Dudești ...

(''Stár Bišnov'') in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(today in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

). A number of

Banat Swabians The Banat Swabians are an Germans, ethnic German population in the former Kingdom of Hungary in Central Europe, Central-Southeast Europe, part of the Danube Swabians and Germans of Romania. They emigrated in the 18th century to what was then the ...

also settled, beginning with seven families in 1893, their total number later exceeding 90 families. Due to the religious differences (the Bulgarian inhabitants of the surrounding villages being

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

), the inhabitants of Bardarski Geran would mostly communicate with residents of the other Catholic villages in the region. The village has two Roman Catholic churches, one of which is the Church of

St Joseph According to the Gospel, canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jews, Jewish man of Nazareth who was Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary, married to Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus ...

, and the other the German Church of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, which was almost destroyed due to lack of maintenance, as the bulk of the Germans left around

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. A foundation has been working on the reconstruction since May 2021. Despite the common denomination, lifestyle and customs, the Bulgarians and the Germans would not usually intermarry and often quarrelled, and so preferred to have two separate churches. In the 1930s, the Bulgarian parish priest was Evgeniy Bosilkov, future Bishop of Nikopol, while the German colonists were served by Emil Frohe. Bardarski Geran's characteristic architecture featuring elongated one-storey houses with

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

an-style sharp-pointed roofs and straight streets owes much to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

architect and engineer Leopold Forabosco who settled in the village after arriving in Bulgaria on Tsar

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

's request. The monthly newspaper of the Banat Bulgarians in Bulgaria, ''Falmis'', was founded in Bardarski Geran in 1997. There is also a folklore dance group active in Bardarski Geran and performing Banat Bulgarian dances and songs. The Bardarski Geran cultural centre (''

chitalishte A ''chitalishte'' (, ) is a traditional Bulgarian public institution and building that fulfills several functions at once, such as a community centre, public library, and a theatre. It is also used as an educational institution, where people o ...

'') was founded in 1923 by Germans and Bulgarians in the house of Mathis Scheringer; in 1958, it moved to its present building. The village has an amateur football club, named after Botev. In the village's centre, right next to the

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

, there is a monument to a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

fighter plane Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the a ...

crew that crashed in the vicinity in

, as well as a monument to the locals that perished in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Gallery

File:Banatska kyshta v BG 8 - muzej.JPG, Museum File:Bardarski Geran church.JPG, Banat Bulgarian church File:Byrdarski geran cyrkva.jpg, Banat Bulgarian church File:Bardarski Geran church 2.JPG, Inside the Banat Bulgarian church File:Nemska cyrkva v byrdarski geran 5.jpg, German church File:Nemska cyrkva v byrdarski geran 3.jpg, German church File:Bardarski Geran Old house.JPG, Old house File:Banatska kyshta v BG 1.JPG, Old house File:03-Kardinal-Ronkali-v-Bardarski-geran.jpg,

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

comes to the village File:2.BRGR-Istoria-LukanChukanov-osnovateli.jpg, Lukan Chukanov and other founders of the village File:3.BRGR-Istoria-Poslednite-zaselnici-1943.jpg, The last settlers from

File:Farsangji2015-bardarskigeran-01.jpg, Participants at the Fershangi International Festival in Bardarski Geran in 2015

Notable people

* Lukan Chukanov – first mayor of the village * Gjura Telbiz – first teacher in the village *

Eugene Bossilkov Eugene Bossilkov, CP (born Vincent Bossilkov 16 November 1900 – 11 November 1952) was a Bulgarian Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Nicopolis from 1947 until his execution by Bulgaria's communist regime in 1952. He was a member of the ...

– member of the

Passionist The Passionists, officially named the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, are a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720, with a special emphasis on a ...

Congregation,

Roman Catholic bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy orders in the Catholic Church, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teachin ...

of Nikopol and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, 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 external party. In ...

in the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

campaign in

against religion * Anton Gjukov – scenograph * Stojan Francov – first principal of the school in the village * Svetlana Karadzhova – public figure, mayor 2011 – 2015

Footnotes

References

* * *

External links

Website about Bardarski Geran
{{Byala Slatina Municipality Villages in Vratsa Province Banat Bulgarian people Populated places established in 1887