Basarbovo () is a village in Northeast Bulgaria, in the Municipality of Ruse. As of 2018, the population is 1 416.

Geography

Basarbovo is located in close proximity to Ruse. It is surrounded by hills on all sides, resulting in a softer climate than the nearby city. The river

Rusenski Lom The Rusenski Lom (, ) is a river in northeastern Bulgaria, the last major right tributary of the Danube. Its length is 55 km but reaches 197 km if its right constituent river the Beli Lom is included. Geography The river is formed b ...

passes through it. As a result, a canyon is formed, similar to the one in the nearby

Rusenski Lom Nature Park Rusenski Lom Nature Park () is a protected area in Ivanovo Municipality, Ruse Province, northern Bulgaria. The park was established on 26 February 1970, in order to protect the canyon of the Rusenski Lom, the last significant right tributary of t ...

. This is one of the oldest climbing sites in Bulgaria. In geological history, the territory of Basarbovo was once covered by

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

, resulting in

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

formations.

History

It is believed that the area is inhabited since the antiquity. There are a number of

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

votive tile discovered, the oldest one dated to III - II century BC depicting a

horse rider The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million ...

. Due to this it is believed that the site has been a place of worship long before the establishment of

Basarbovo Monastery Basarbovo Monastery () – the Monastery of Saint Dimitar Basarbowski – is a Bulgarian Orthodox cave monastery near the city of Ruse in north-eastern Bulgaria. It has the same name as the nearby village of Basarbovo and lies about 35 metres a ...

. Its earliest mention is from 1431 in an Ottoman tax register. According to it, there were 14 households in the village with predominantly ethnic Bulgarian population. During the Ottoman rule in Bulgaria, the village was located on the hill northwest of its current position. After it was burnt down several times, in 1803 the settlement moved to its current position.

Name

In its earliest mentions, the village is indicated as ''Monastery Basaraba ()'', evolving later on in ''Basarbovo''. It is hypothesized that it is called after

Basarab I of Wallachia Basarab I (), also known as Basarab the Founder (; – 1351/1352), was a ''voivode'' and later the first independent ruler of Wallachia who lived in the first half of the . Many details of his life are uncertain. According to two popular theo ...

, as it may have been in his

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

. Another theory is that it is founded by settlers from

Bessarabia Bessarabia () 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 Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

, although this is disputed as there are evidence that the village is founded by settlers from the

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with 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 throug ...

village

Dryanovo Dryanovo (, ) is a Bulgarian town situated at the northern foot of the Balkan Mountains in Gabrovo Province; amphitheatrically along the two banks of Dryanovo River, a tributary to the Yantra River. The town is a centre of the homonymous Dryan ...

. Commonly the village is incorrectly called Besarbovo ''()'', probably due to confusion with

Main sights

Basarbovo Monastery

is located in walking distance from Basarbovo. It was founded during the

Second Bulgarian Empire The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1422. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...

(XII-XIV cent.), but the oldest written mention of it dates to 1431 in an Ottoman tax register. It is the only active cave monastery in the modern history of Bulgaria. It was named a historical landmark in 1978.

Others

Basarbovo Ridge 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 (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

is named after the village.

References

External links

{{commonscat
Page of the town hall of Basarbovo
Villages in Ruse Province