Belene ( ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Pleven Province Pleven Province ( or Плевенска Област) is a province located in central northern Bulgaria, bordering the Danube river, Romania and the Bulgarian provinces of Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo and Lovech. It is divided into 11 subdivisions ...

, Northern

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 ...

. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Belene Municipality. The town is situated on the right bank of the

Danube river The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

, close to the town of

Svishtov Svishtov ( ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous S ...

Geography

Location

Belene is located in

- 60 km northeast of the regional centre of

Pleven Pleven ( ) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest economic center in ...

and near the town of

- 26 km. Other nearby towns are Nikopol - 37 km west of Belene and Levski to the south - 46 km. Belene Municipality is located in the northern central part of the Danube Plain, on the northern state border of

with

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 ...

. The territory of the municipality is 285,046 decares (285 km²), of which 12,110 decares are the “settlements” fund. For its area it is one of the small municipalities in Bulgaria. It consists of six settlements - the municipal center of Belene and five villages - Dekov, Tatari, Petokladentsi, Kulina voda and Byala voda. The number of inhabitants in the Municipality accounts to 9891.

Climate

Belene has a continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfa) The winters are one of the coldest in Bulgaria but in the summer it gets very hot.

History

Five cultural layers have been found in over 20

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, ...

mounds. The first ones date from the

Late Neolithic In the Near Eastern archaeology, archaeology of Southwest Asia, the Late Neolithic, also known as the Ceramic Neolithic or Pottery Neolithic, is the final part of the Neolithic period, following on from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and preceding th ...

, continue through the

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

and Copper Ages and are evidence of continuous life in these places. From the 4th century BC until the beginning of the 1st century BC the site was inhabited by the Thracian tribe

Getae The Getae or Getai ( or , also Getans) were a large nation who inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania, throughout much of Classical Antiquity. The main source of informa ...

, also called Dimenzi. It was the site of the Roman

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

and customs station, ''Dimum'', from the 1st century AD in the Roman province of

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

. In the time of the first Roman Emperor Augustus the fortress was the most north-eastern point of Moesia on the frontier with the Thracian kingdom. From the beginning of the 2nd to end of 3rd century a cavalry regiment was stationed there and which probably rebuilt the fort. The site has been partially excavated and more than 60 m of the walls with the western gate. The available data determine its origin in 1086, when part of the Paulician population after the suppression of the Thracian uprising left the surroundings of Plovdiv and settled near the destroyed and depopulated ancient Roman fortress Dimum (Dum). In the Middle Ages the settlement was called Dunavgrad (Tunaburgos). Traces of a Slavic settlement and an earth fortification have been found in the vicinity of Belene. There is no summary information about the settlement for the period from the 5th to the 15th century. The village is mentioned in Ottoman registers from 1479/80, at that time it was a Paulician village with 49 households. Later, the Paulicians from the village converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. About 18 names of the settlement are known from the history and legends. The most popular are: Dimum, Pavlikjansko Belene, Beljansko, Beleni. The Paulicians who settled in it profess one of the varieties of the

Bogomilism Bogomilism (; ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic, dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Peter I in the 10th century. It ...

. On the one hand, they opposed

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, and on the other, they did not want to accept

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. In order to save and mitigate the Turkish atrocities from 1605 to 1620, the Paulicians were converted to the Catholic faith by the Bosnian Catholic missionary Bishop Petar Solinat. Despite its admission into the bosom of the Roman Catholic Church, the population retains its language and nationality. The adoption of the Catholic faith has a beneficial effect on the development of Belene. According to Lyubomir Miletich after the pogrom of the Chiprovtsi uprising in 1688, about 2,000 people from Belene moved to Wallachia to escape the Turkish atrocities. After a while, some of them returned, but some had already adopted the Romanian language and customs. After the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation from 1877-1878, the Turks emigrated and Bulgarians from the

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( ) is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the Local government, administrative centre of Gabrovo Province.It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international ca ...

, Elena,

Tryavna Tryavna ( ) is a town in central Bulgaria, situated in the northern slopes of the Balkan range, on the Tryavna river valley, near Gabrovo. It is famous for its textile industry and typical National Revival architecture, featuring 140 cultural m ...

and

Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

regions settled, leaving Belene with a purely Bulgarian population. On 7 September 1964 Belene was proclaimed a city. Here was located the biggest labour camp in Bulgaria ( Belene labour camp) after the BCP gained power in 1944. It was constructed on the island of Persin (also known as Belene Island) in the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

in Spring of 1949.

Religion

The main confessions in the town are

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

Eastern Orthodoxy 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 ...

, with two Roman Catholic and one Orthodox church being present. The Catholic Church of the

Blessed 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 ...

was built in 1860, the Eastern Orthodox Church of

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

in 1874 and the Catholic Church of Saint

Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua, Order of Friars Minor, OFM, (; ; ) or Anthony of Lisbon (; ; ; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Catholic priest and member of the Order of Friars Minor. ...

was constructed in 1893. Belene is the birthplace of Blessed Bishop Eugene Bosilkov (1900–1952), a martyr for the faith and beatified on 15 March 1998 in St. Peter's Basilica by Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

In the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Sanctuary with a piece of the relics of Monsignor Bosilkov - a place of worship for believing Christians. Belene was proclaimed a town in 1964,Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Belene in 1964
/ref> which is celebrated every year in the first week of September with a market and cultural events.

Economy

Although about 40% of construction worked and 80% of equipment deliveries for the first unit had been completed in 1991, construction was suspended owing to a lack of financial resources. In 2002, the Government decided to resume the Belene NPP Project and in 2005, the Council of Ministers issued a decision for construction of two 1000 MW units. However, the Council of Ministers decision about the Belene NPP Project was subsequently suspended in 2012. In 2018, the Minister of Energy was assigned to again explore possibilities for construction of the Belene NPP until it was interrupted in 1990 due to the severe economic crisis that followed the fall of communism in the country. There are plans to start construction again as a replacement for reactors 3 and 4 at Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, which Bulgaria shut down as a condition for EU membership. The total capacity of the two reactors will be 2,000 MW.

In popular culture

Belene was the focal point for the feature documentary film '' The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories'' by

Andrey Paounov Andrey M Paounov (born 1974 ) is a Bulgarian writer and director best known for his documentary feature films. His debut ''Georgi and the Butterflies'' won the Award for Best Mid-Length Documentary (formerly: Silver Wolf Award) at the International ...

. The film features some of the town's characters, highlighting their daily plight of a nuclear plant of empty promises and a year-round

mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

epidemic.

Notable people

Born in Belene

* Eugene Bossilkov (1900 – 1952), 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 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 * Mihail Borozenkov, adventurer * Karl Raev (1881 – 1967), catholic priest * Nikola Aleksiev (.... – 1964), first legislator from Belene

Lived in Belene

* Damjan Talev (1911 – 1998), catholic priest * Petko Hristov (1950 – 2020) Roman Catholic bishop of Nikopol * Paolo Kortezi (born 1974), catholic priest, passionist

Died in Belene

* Ilolito Agosto (1838 – 1893), Roman Catholic bishop of Nikopol * Alexander Girginov (1879 – 1953), politician * Dimitar Savov (1887 – 1951), politician * Ignat Badov (1919 – 2001), catholic priest, resurrectionist

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Belene is twinned with: * Belleville-sur-Loire, France * Devrek, Turkey * Hajdúsámson, Hungary * Lázně Bělohrad, Czech Republic *

Obninsk Obninsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the bank of the Protva River southwest of Moscow and northeast of Kaluga. Its population is 125,376 at the 2021 census. History The history of ...

, Russia * Popești-Leordeni, Romania *

Vigonza Vigonza is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about northeast of Padua. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 20,421 and an area of .All demographics and ot ...

, Italy

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Pleven Province Populated places on the Danube Late Neolithic Roman auxiliary forts in Bulgaria