Stories from the bottom of Ogosta Dam

[[MC]Ronin[MC]]

Stories from the bottom of Ogosta Dam

 

 

 

The water failed to destroy the church in the village of Zhivovtsi
Part of the village emerged and re-emerged after the Ogosta Dam near Montana drastically lowered its level. The small settlement was flooded in the 1980s and the second largest dam in Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula was built there. The church and belfry of the village of Zhivovtsi are the only ones that the water has not been able to destroy despite the weather.

Only a few decades ago, he was full of life, people had homes and raised their children. However, the construction of the Ogosta Dam deletes everything. To this day, when the water receded and the homes, streets and memories showed up again.

"There were houses, here was the council, the building, there was another street that came from the church and went to the village fountain, passed through the water mill and sold bread here," said Yordanka Dimitrova.

"The street is here, and here was where Linko the innkeeper lived, in this area was his house. And after so many years, it's hard for me to remember what it was, because you see the water, what ruins it left behind. Only memories are left, otherwise nothing is left of this Zhivovtsi, "said Peter Petrov.

Yordanka's childhood passed to Zhivovtsi, the home of her grandparents. A home that is now somewhere in the water.

"We had a summer kitchen, so we told her, and my grandparents lived there, and so we left. If the water is withdrawn, there may be bricks, "Dimitrova said.

"A very nice village, equally, in almost every home a well, a geranium in ours, had everything. A very fertile village, yards large in houses. Remember when they said there would be a dam in this place and you had to move out? I was less than 10 years old when they said it. Many people were suffering from grief, some died while moving out, "added Yordanka.

"My daughter was born in the year of the eviction. The village was moving, the people were broken, there was no good, "said Petar Petrov.

Petar is a native of the village of Zhivovtsi and has completed his primary education at a local school.

"Memories bring me to childhood, to the bachelor, to friendship. Only one is left of my true friends, "Petrov said.

He was with them on the rink as a child. Although 82 years old, he still remembers the street they were going down.

For about 20 years, between the 1960s and 1980s, the two villages - Zhivovtsi and Kalimanitsa moved out to boil. But then only Zhivovtsi poured underwater.

"The houses were about 350 and about 1,000 people, no more," said Dimitar Tserovski.

Dimitar's roots are from Zhivovtsi. He has been collecting information about his home village for years. It had a school, a mill, a railway station, a community center, five brass bands, a farm, a town hall and a church. Only she survived today with the bell tower.

The bell tower and part of the church were also under water, but not only the water but also the people helped the church to be demolished. The walls are cracked and the roof has fallen.

"Among the debris from the roof, from the iconostasis, I found a board with the carved names of the masters who put the roof structure on the church itself," said Tserovski.

One of the village fountains of Zhivovtsi, which was at the bottom of the dam, is now again on land and is flowing again.

There are also remains of a rope bridge, of the farm, even the stairs of the houses are still there.