Golema Rakovitsa () is a village in western

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 Elin Pelin Municipality,

Sofia Province Sofia Province () is a province (''oblast'') of Bulgaria. The province does not include Sofia in its territories, but Sofia remains the seat of its administration. The province borders on the provinces of Pernik, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad, Paz ...

Geography

Golema Rakovitsa is situated near the eastern end of the

Sofia Valley The Sofia Valley (), or Sofia Field (), is situated in central western Bulgaria. It is the second of the succession of the eleven Sub-Balkan valleys in direction west–east and is the largest of them in area and population. It is named after th ...

, at the western foot of

Sredna Gora Sredna Gora ( ) is a mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to the Balkan Mountains and extending from the river Iskar (river), Iskar to the west and the elbow of river Tundzha north of the city of Yambol to the east. ...

mountain. It is located just where the Lopushina and Ravna rivers flow together to form the Lesnovo River. From the village border starts the upper part of Ognyanovo Reservoir.

Elin Pelin Elin Pelin ( ) (8 July 1877 – 3 December 1949), born Dimitar Ivanov Stoyanov () was a Bulgarian writer. Stoyan Christowe called him "Bulgaria's leading writer". Biography He was born in the village of Bailovo, in Sofia District. He complet ...

, the main town of the municipality, is about to the west. An annual from the

Bulgarian National Library The SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library () is the national library of Bulgaria, situated in the capital city of Sofia. Founded on 4 April 1878, the library received the status of Bulgarian National Library three years later and the Bulgari ...

, published in 1928, indicates that in the middle of 19th century there were 180 houses in the village. It was the biggest settlement in the eastern Sofia district at the time. In comparison,

, named Novoseltsi back then, was listed as having 125 houses. Just after the

First World War 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 ...

there were 2,200 residents in the village. However, when the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

took the rule in the country, private property was strongly limited and the farming realties were nationalized. The population started permanently decreasing because of migration, mostly to

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. Nowadays about 400 people remain in Golema Rakovitsa.

History and culture

The village was set on fire twice during the 19th century by Ottoman troops. The native Gato Shishkov was among the followers of the revolutionary

Vasil Levski Vasil Levski (, spelled in Reforms of Bulgarian orthography, old Bulgarian orthography as , ), born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (; 18 July 1837 – 18 February 1873), was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a Folk hero, national ...

who visited the village several times. It was reported that another Bulgarian revolutionary, Georgi Benkovski, also passed through the village. During 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 ...

in 1912 a man from Rakovitsa was a member of the

Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps The Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps (, ; MAVC) was a volunteer corps of the Bulgarian Army during the Balkan Wars. It was formed on 23 September 1912 and consisted of Bulgarian volunteers from Macedonia and Thrace, regions still under ...

. The majority of the inhabitants are Christians adhering to the

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria (), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction based in Bulgaria. It is the first medieval recognised patriarchate outside the Pentarchy and t ...

. In the village there is a church named after St Nicholas built in 1857. In the church yard are the remains of an old religious school which was restored in 2005 and turned into a museum. The two-storied building of the modern school was constructed in 1923-1924. It was a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

named after the

Saints Cyril and Methodius Cyril (; born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (; born Michael, 815–885) were brothers, Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are ...

. After operating for more than 60 years, the school was closed down in 1994 and the building was abandoned. Every year on 2 May, there is a local village celebration called Sabor, dedicated to the

April Uprising The April Uprising () was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The rebellion was suppressed by irregular Ottoman bashi-bazouk units that engaged in indiscriminate slaughter of both rebels ...

Gallery

Image:BigRakovitsa2.jpg, The village in 2008 Image:BigRakovitsa3.jpg, The abandoned school Image:BigRakovitsa4.jpg, A view towards the church from the school yard Image:BigRakovitsa7.jpg

References

Golema Rakovitsa Guide
{{Elin Pelin Municipality Villages in Sofia Province