Settlement:
Town/Village:
Kovatchevitsa village is situated in the basin of the Kanina /Blood/ River. It is surrounded by a string of high ridges in the south-west part of the Rodopa mountain massive called Dabrash.
The origin of the Kovatchevitsa village is connected to the violence the Bulgarian population in that area had been put under during the forcible conversion to Mohammedanism in the period 1623 - 1625 and later on in 1656. In that time, the Bulgarians that didn't want to accept the Islam left their homes, abandoned their properties and their relatives and looked for salvation and shelter in the higher, inaccessible parts of the mountain. The abundance of drinking water in the land of the village, the spacious pastures, the mild climate and the safety from Turkish raids made it favourable for the refugees to settle there.
Separate hamlets formed on a family basis appeared at the beginning. They originated from refugees that came from some neighbouring villages as well as from more distant places, such as the forcibly expelled from Tarnovo people that settled in the so-called "Tarnovo neighbourhood". A century later, in the 18th c., a new migration wave came from western Macedonia and formed the "Arnautska mahala (neighbourhood)". The different quarters on the land of the village were clustered around the source called nowadays "Tsiganchitsa", where the smith Marko, a settler from the near village of Ribnovo lived.
A legend about the name of the Kovatchevitsa village exists: "After the skilled smith and farrier Marko had died, his wife Gina took the fate of the orphaned family in her hands. When relatives and customers from the near hamlets visited her, they used to say: 'We are going to the "Kovatchevitsa"' meaning, to the wife of the smith /smith in Bulgarian is 'kovatch'/. So the name of the settlement won recognition and later on all the surrounding hamlets grouped around it in order to defend themselves from the frequent brigands' attacks. That was the foundation of the present Kovatchevitsa village.
With the growing up of the settlement, different crafts were developed to serve its inhabitants. The came from the near villages settlers were occupied with agriculture and cattle-breeding mainly. It was different from the West Macedonians who were builders mainly, the so called "dyulgeri". With the time being, common traditions and customs had been built.
There was no Turkish administration in Kovatchevitsa during the whole period of the Ottoman power. That helped the village to become one of the centers of the Macedonian movement for national liberation. The village had been situated on the border between the Principality of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire from the Liberation of Bulgaria until the liberation of Pirin Macedonia in 1912. One of the important channels for arms supply to the counties of Nevrokop, Drama and Seres used to pass via Kovatchevitsa. All the inhabitants were devoted to that patriotic task and helped with anything possible.
Kovatchevitsa used to meet and see off many rebels. There were cases when in one and the same house of the village, in the same time, representatives of the two opposite trends of the VMORO /Internal Macedonian-Odrin Revolutionary Movement/ found shelter without being aware of the others' presence. To be safe and to protect themselves from the Turkish power, the leaders of the local organization decided to dig a tunnel connecting the upper with the lower end of the village. Through that channel the committee members moved when necessary without endangering the security of the village and the villagers.
In 1912, during the Balkan War, the volunteers' battalion of George Myahov from Batak was marching as the advanced guard of the Bulgarian army approaching the town of Nevrokop /Gotse Deltchev/. Thirty volunteers from Kovatchevitsa, being at that time builders in different parts of the country, joint the battalion. Kovatchevitsa was liberated from the Turkish suppression on the 17th of October, 1912.
The inhabitants of Kovatchevitsa participated in the Interallies /The Second Balkan/ War and the First World War as well, fighting on different fronts. Twenty eight victims from all the eminent families fell in the wars - Gyuzlevs, Horozovs, Jouglevs, Kopralevs, Dryankovs, Jerevs, Iordjevs, Tsingovs, Gagovs, Bentchevs, Taushanovs, Trepkovs, Landjevs, Shousharkovs, Gueorguievs, Trenevs, Ditchevs, Avramovs, Mihalevs.
In the period of the Bulgarian Revival Kovatchevitsa was a centre of the educational and the ecclesiastical movements in the Nevrokop area. The Church of "St. Nikola" built in 1847 by the famous builders of Kovatchevitsa with the volunteer work of all the villagers is a unique architectural monument. According the requirements of the Turkish administration, it should not stand out high and it was dug into the ground in the lower end of the village. In 1900, twelve years before the liberation of the village, its inhabitants built a four-storey bell tower next to the church. The two different bells were moulded on place by the well-known masters from Gorni Brojden using the collected from the people bells. In the yard of the church.
The first monastery school was built in 1820 in the yard of the church. The monks had been teaching children until 1854. The first secular school in the village was opened in 1854 in the house of the young teacher Nikola Banev-Kovatchevski. The two-storey building of the new school was built in 1888 with a donation from the teacher Yordje Dimitrov Djordjev, who made it in memoriam of his three children perished in the flames of his burnt by Turks house. That is why the school is still bearing the name Popular School "Yordje Dimitrov".
Kovatchevitsa was strongly affected by migration processes in the 50s of the 20th c. The mass migration towards Velingrad, Batak, Pazardjik and other regions of the country led to the devastation of many wonderful houses in the village that started slowly crumble away.
The opportunity for the village to revive was its "discovery" by the Bulgarian film-makers. There is no other village in the country where so many movies have been made - over 20. There are "Mera spored mera", "Men Times" and many others.
In 1977 Kovatchevitsa was announced a historical and architectural reserve. That fact together with the popularity of the village after the movies had been made, brought to the village new people who bought and restored some of the devastated houses. That's how the village was safe from destruction.
The architecture of Kovatchevitsa is distinctive and original. It can't be described verbatim. It should be seen obligatory. On the basis of the pre-revival houses, in the second half of the 18th c. started being built two-, three-storey houses with oriels of the second and the third floors above narrow cobblestone streets. In that same period they started differentiate the rooms of the Kovatchevitsa houses by their functions.
The ground level, together with several semi-levels kept the cattle and other agricultural functions and stores, and the residential rooms were occupying the upper one or two floors. Two different groups of rooms existed in the Kovatchevitsa houses - open parts, the so called "poton" (tcherdak), obligatory oriented to the south or to the west, that provided a visual connection with the surrounding open space and the closed rooms - rooms with hearths, closets, rooms with ovens and others.
The establishment of that determinate type of houses with its constructional, functional and artistic particularities was a sign for the development of a highly sophisticated, original architectural school in the region of the south-western Rodopes with a center the village of Kovatchevitsa.
The genius of the Bulgarian builders created in the village during the period of the Bulgarian Revival the stone "fairy tail" called "Kovatchevitsa".
1.Cultural - historical route: " The Original and Remarkable Architecture of the Kovatchevitsa village ".
2.Cultural - historical route: Ethnic Groupes and Historical Architectural Heritage in the South-Western Rodopes, the Villages Kovatchevitsa, Leshten, Dolen and Ribnovo. The village of Leshten Its population is as "numerous" as 9 residents. The village of Leshten offers wonderful conditions for ecotourism. It has a tourist architectural complex built in the traditions of the Bulgarian Revival and good conditions for leisure.
The village of Dolen is situated in the Satovcha settlement system. It is huddled in the picturesque valley of the same name river, on the southern slopes of the Aklisa ridge. The perched one above another houses enjoy the sight with their simple beauty. The village was announced a historical-architectural reserve together with the Kovatchevitsa village in 1977.According the legend, its first settlers were the escaped from a forcible conversion to Islam Bulgarians from the disappeared later village of Bukurovo, near the present village Bogolin. The refugees settled on that place where "three roads tie and three rivers merge" in the gorge. From there its name originates /'dolen' comes from 'dol (gorge)/. In the land of the village, in the countryside called Golyam Kamak /The Big Stone/, there were carved in the rock nishes of different shapes. That rock is near the big Thracian settlement that had been existing until the 4th-5th c.c. AD. The Village of Ribnovo - it has 2 601 residents. One could see there the charme of the picturesque women traditional dresses, the preserved originality, traditions and the life philosophy of the Ribnovo inhabitants.
Age-old pine woods, spacious high mountain plateaus, picturesque meadows, potatoes and tobacco fields, ice-cold mountain sources, endless range of Rodopa picks create the severe charm of the village.
The Beslet ridges arise to the northwest of the village. The high mountain meadows are covered with wild fruits- strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and mushrooms in the summer. Whole families bivouac high in the mountain during July and August to collect fruits and mushrooms, which they sell in the village later.
The life in the village is severe but original. The villagers are Bulgarians Muslims who strongly respect the local traditions. This is the most populated village of the area now. There is almost no migration to other villages or towns. Marriages happen between the villagers mainly. There are two mosques in Ribnovo. Almost all the women ware the traditional multicolored trousers "shalvars", aprons and headcloths.
A substantial part of the tradition is the hospitality. One can always find shelter, food and a nice word in the village. Interesting for the tourists are the local domestic hand woven exotic kilims, rugs, goat's hair rugs, tufty rugs, aprons with original ornaments and bright colours that women make at home.
3. Tourist trail: Kovatchevitsa village -"St. George" chapel
The Chapel of St. George is situated at 2 km to the north of the village, in the upper part of it in the "St. George" countryside. It was built in 1995 by the master builder Sherif Hodjov from the Gorno Dryanovo village, together with the residents of Kovatchevitsa. The means for the chapel had been collected with the idea of Irina Jereva from donors. The bigger part of the means were donated by Stoyan Petriliiski, Nikola Karamfilov, Georgi Tupalov and many others
The artists Nikola Karamfilov, Vladimir Shishkov, Atanas Atanasov and Stanimir Zhelev as a donation to the village painted the wonderful murals.
It is an hour walking to the chapel. The road passes picturesque meadows and old Roman cobblestone road. The sight from the chapel is impressing - age-old pine trees, an eagle-sight to the villages Gorno Dryanovo and Garmen, far to the picks of Pirin Mountain.
4. Tourist trail: Kovatchevitsa village - The Blue Pool.
The Blue Pool is located at an hour of walking, to the west of Kovatchevitsa, in the basin of the Kanina /Blood/ River, where the falling thundering water has formed enormous cauldrons of blue-green colour. The waterfall represents a whole cascade in the basin of the river that forms a majestic gorge in the area. Along almost three kilometers the river makes its difficult way between menacing from both sides vertical rocks. Single pines are hanging here and there and some small caves are formed.
5. Tourist trail: Kovatchevitsa village - the Kozi Kamak (Goat's Stone) countryside
The Goat's Stone is situated in the land of the Kovatchevitsa village, above the forest farm "Beslet". It takes its name from the rock called "Kozi Kamak. A strange sight appears towards the Kayaliiski rocks and further to the west the sharp peaks of the Pirin Mountain could be seen.
A lot of holes of absolute round shape and identical dimensions and depth are placed on the rock. The investigations show a Thracian origin. The proof ot it is the found here Thracian helmet of Frigya type with movable cheek plates, dated from the 4th c. BC. According other believes, the holes are "astral signes from the visible sector of the sky above the area /the constellations Cepheus and Cassiopeia.
6.Tourist trail: Kovatchevitsa village - Beslet peak
The mountain peak Beslet represents an 80 meters wide and about 300 meters long flat wide hump oriented south-west - northeast. It is built of south Bulgarian granites. The top is covered with grass and juniper and the slopes are forested by old pine woods. The legends tell that the name comes from the ancient endless pine woods where one could be lost without a trace /bez sleda/ Beslet.
Beslet is one of the oldest and biggest forest farms in Dabrash. A road to the town of Velingrad and the Sarnitsa village passes alongside and through the "Suhiya Chark" countryside passes .