{"id":1209,"date":"2024-10-23T22:46:46","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T19:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/?p=1209"},"modified":"2025-02-05T12:54:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T10:54:33","slug":"%d0%b1%d1%80%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d1%86%d0%b0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/1209","title":{"rendered":"Brenitsa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VILLAGE OF BRENITSA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Location<\/strong> \u2013 located 20 km south of the municipal center Tutrakan, to the north is the village of Varnentsi, to the west is the village of Terter and the village of Madrevo, to the east is the village of Belitsa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old name \u2013<\/strong> Karamehmetler, Karamehmed, renamed Brenitsa by \u041c\u0417 \u2116 2191\/\u043e\u0431\u043d. June 27, 1942. The name of the settlement Kara Mehmedler in translation from Turkish \u2013 \u201cthe black Mehmedovtsi\u201d and originates from the former founders of the settlement. According to Prof. Konstantin Popov, the name Brenitsa originates from the Old Bulgarian word \u0411\u0420\u0415NHIE (\u0431\u0440\u0435\u043d\u044c\u0435), which means mud, silt, swamp, swamp. Brenitsa derives from \u201cbrannitsa\u201d, which comes from bran. Both names have Slavic roots, which is evidence that the village is an old Slavic settlement. It is possible that the semantic meaning of the two names is the same, and the difference is in the vowels a and e.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Population, according to censuses over the years:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to data from the Ottoman register for households, residents, buildings, lands and taxes of Tutrakan and Tutrakanska kaza, according to the old and new census in the village of Kara Mehmedler in 1870: Households (inns) \u2013 57. 1. Residents of Islamic origin (Turks) \u2013 243 people. Total population \u2013 243 people, according to the old census.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Households (houses) and residents: 1. Households (houses) \u2013 68. 2. Residents of Gypsy origin \u2013 Muslims 5 people. 3. Residents of Islamic origin (Turks) \u2013 229 people. Total population, according to the new census \u2013 234 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1881 \u2013 539 people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1900 \u2013 625 people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1905 \u2013 633 people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1910 \u2013 615 people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1934 \u2013 127 people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1941 \u2013 127 people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1946 \u2013 410 people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1956 \u2013 409 people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1985 \u2013 410 people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2000 \u2013 343 people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2011 \u2013 235 people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2022 \u2013 160 people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First data<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brenitsa is present on the Archaeological Map of Bulgaria with 1. Mound necropolis in the Syutchuk area. The mounds are located in separate groups. The discovered material is from the Late Iron Age. 2. Settlement in the Habnarlaka area. Altitude 180 \u2013 198 m, area about 160 decares. Levels. Finds: Late Iron Age pottery, fragments of clay plaster. The finds are of low concentration and evenly distributed. The ceramics are heavily crushed, which can be explained by the annual plowing. 3. Settlement with a necropolis in the Baakarkasa \/ Arnutluk area. 0.850 km with 355 \u00b0 azimuth. Valley slope. Altitude 85 \u2013 115 m, area about 130 decares. Ceramics from the Bulgarian Renaissance were discovered. According to local residents, the old village of Brenitsa is located at this place. 4. Grave mound. 0.820 km with 278 \u00b0 azimuth. Levels. Leveled surface with a slight slope to the north. From the west a ravine. Diameter 40 m, height. 5. Grave mound. 0.820 km with 273 \u00b0 azimuth. Diameter 40\/50 m height 1.5 m. Levels, leveled surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brenitsa during the Renaissance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to unofficial data, the village was founded around 1450 – 1500 by settlers from Anatolia, the city of Konya, Karaman region, and received its name from the largest family that arrived – Karamehmetler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to V. Teplov, there are 1778 Turkish houses in Tutrakanska. According to him, villages with a Turkish population in Tutrakanska kas are: Enjekoy (Preslavtsi), Karamehmetler (Brenitsa), Arabadjilar (Kolarovo), Akhmatlar (St. Karadzha), Asvatkoy (Glavinitsa), Daudjilar (Padina), Emirler (Boil), Kasamlar (Osen), Kovanjilar (Terter), Masutlar (Nozharevo), Sarigol (Tarnovtsi), Uzundje Orman (Bogdanci) and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, the village consisted of three neighborhoods: Western, Middle and Eastern (currently only the Eastern neighborhood exists). Until 1878, the population was entirely of Turkish origin, with the main occupation being cattle breeding and primitive agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lipalaka forest is located in the village’s territory, through which Panayot Hitov’s detachment with standard-bearer Vasil Levski passed in 1867.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brenica after the Liberation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the administrative-territorial organization established after the Liberation of Bulgaria, the village is a constituent village, included in the Tutrakan district, Kovanjilar municipality (present-day Terter village) together with constituent villages, Kaschilar (present-day deleted), Mesim mahle (present-day Madrevo village), Nastradan (present-day Bisertsi village) and Hadji Faklar (present-day deleted).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Allied War and the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913, it passed into the borders of the Kingdom of Romania as a border village. Today, the remains of the border posts are located 3 km southwest of the village. A regime of assimilation of the local population began, and the personal human, civil and political rights of the enslaved Bulgarian population in Dobrudja were violated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 1916, the Romanian government circles decided to kidnap the most intelligent and wealthy residents of Dobrudja to the north and ruin their farms. For this purpose, the Romanian Ministry of the Interior created a special \u201cInstruction for the Kidnapping of Foreigners and Suspicious Persons\u201d. According to a list, Bulgarians, Turks, Germans and Austro-Hungarians were to be deported. These were Bulgarian priests, Turkish muftis, hodjas, imams, former and current Bulgarian teachers, mayors, doctors, bankers, intellectuals, merchants and any foreign or Romanian subject who could prove harmful to the army. By decision of the Council of Ministers of Romania, 2,145 million lei were allocated for barracks and other premises for prisoners to be built in the Ia\u0219i County, Moldova. No funds are provided for the camps and 68 other settlements, mostly dugouts and a few barracks, because the people of Dobrudja have to dig them themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 15, 1916, the arrests and kidnappings of previously targeted people began. Thousands of men, women, children and the elderly were forcibly removed from their homes. Thousands of Bulgarians became victims of terror, the inhabitants of entire villages were massacred, and in a number of settlements there were mass rapes of women. 17 people were kidnapped from the village and interned in Moldova.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 1, 1916, Bulgaria declared war on its “treacherous neighbor” Romania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The units of the 3rd Army, on September 1st to 2nd, 1916, crossed the Dobrudja border from the Danube to the Black Sea. Early in the morning of September 2 at 01.20, General Pantelei Kiselov ordered the 1st Infantry Brigade of the division, under the command of Colonel Kmetov, to seize Meshe Mahle (now deleted) and Denizler (now the village of Varnentsi) and to fortify north of the village – 2 km north of Belitsa, with the brigade’s section being from the Belitsa – Antimovo road to the Kara Mehmedler (now the village of Brenitsa) – Dayder (now the village of Shumentsi), and to pay attention to the right flank of the brigade and the connection with the 1st Sofia Division, and the 3rd Brigade of the division, under the command of Colonel Ikonomov, to seize the positions north of Meshe Mahle and the brigade to pay special attention to the left flank and to maintain close contact with von Kaufmann’s detachment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bulgarian army won the epic Battle of Tutrakan, but Bulgaria was a losing country in World War I and on November 27, 1919, the Treaty of Neuilly was signed. Bulgaria lost about 10 percent of its territory and was imposed with reparations and restrictions that were unbearable for the time. Under the Treaty of Neuilly, Southern Dobrudja once again became part of Romania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From June 27 to November 14, 1917, the newspaper “Dobrudzha” published in Babadag searched for, compiled and published a detailed list of names of the kidnapped Dobrudzhans, distributed under the name Martyrology of the Dobrudzhan Princes, including the kidnapped Brenica residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colonists settled in Kara Mehmedler. The Colony Quarter was founded, their houses were called colonist or mukan houses according to their inhabitants and were built around the 1920s. A regime of assimilation of the local population began again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also emigrated from Tutrakansko to Turkey due to difficult economic conditions. They had a hard time coming to terms with the confiscation of 1\/3 of their arable land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the village of 640 people, due to the emigration of the Turkish population to Turkey, the population decreased to 127 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the signing of the Craiova Agreement of September 7, 1940, the demographic picture of the Bulgarian population in Tutrakansko was enriched and supplemented. In Kara Mehmedler, Bulgarians from Northern Dobrudzha settled in the old homes of the colonists. 21 families from the village of Cherna and 7 families from the village of Dorkovo, Pazardzhik, as well as 40-50 families – gypsy Kopanari from all over the country, settled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 9, 1943, 96 residents of the village of Brenitsa wrote a statement to the Minister of Internal Affairs regarding their desire for the village to be removed from the Terter municipality and joined to the Belitsa municipality. As reasons, they stated: \u201cFor many years we were a constituent village of the Belitsa municipality, however, during the formation of the municipalities in Southern Dobrudzha, after its liberation in 1940, our village joined and became part of the Terter (Kovadzhilar) municipality, from which village we are located about 5 km. When we go to the town of Tutrakan for work in the district services, we go to the central municipality – Terter and after being provided with the necessary documents by the municipality, we return to the village of Brenitsa (Kara Mehmetler) and on a straight road through the village of Belitsa, we go to the town of Tutrakan. We are directly connected to the village of Belitsa and are about 5 km away from it, and in addition, in the same village of Belitsa, there is an open district agronomy, a veterinary clinic, there are 2 non-Betchi mills, there is a police sub-station, a telegraph and post office, a junior high school and a church, and in addition, we take water from the same village in summer and winter, since our village is waterless, these circumstances make us be in constant contact with the village of Belitsa rather than with the village of Terter – which is now the center of our municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Minister, considering the above, we unanimously ask you to separate our village from the Terter (Kovandzhilar) municipality and join the Belitsa municipality, in which there is a healthy Bulgarian element and which has given ample evidence of this during the Romanian regime, and with joint efforts our village will rise in every respect. ” Their wish was approved and Brenitsa from the Terter municipality passed into the administration of the Belitsa municipality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brenitsa after September 9, 1944<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After September 9, 1944, it was a constituent village in the Rural Municipal Administration – the village of Belitsa, Tutrakan district. The village was settled by Macedonians and Kopanari, but due to the lack of drinking water, they did not stay long. According to local residents, the Suhata River, which originated from the Isperishki Heights and flowed into the Danube River, passed near the village (about 2 km away). Despite the presence of a river in the past, according to later traditions, we learn that there was no drinking water in the village. For this reason, the population was forced to obtain it from nearby villages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the many forests, the village was waterless, only in 1950 was water piped from Voden and the village was supplied with water, and it was electrified after 1956.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Women’s Society was founded in 1947. In 1953, the construction of the road from Belitsa to Brenitsa began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1959, a new territorial-administrative reform was carried out. On the territory of the old Ruse district, three new ones were created – Ruse, Razgrad and Silistra. The area of \u200b\u200bthe former Tutrakan district became part of the new Silistra district. The village of Brenitsa remained in the same district as a constituent village in the Belitsa municipality, together with the villages of Belitsa, Brenitsa, Varnentsi and Shumentsi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large unit was built within the complex brigade in the village of Brenitsa for the production of industrial crops \u2013 hemp and tobacco. A football team was founded, which was called “Rodina Brenitsa”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 1979 it has been a town hall within the Settlement System and Municipality of Tutrakan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main occupation of the population is agriculture and animal husbandry. During the socialist period, a workshop of the Slavyanka plant for twisting twine operated on the territory of Brenitsa. PGI Terma also opened its own workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new town hall building, health service, full-day kindergarten, shop, pastry shop and restaurant are being built. There are open youth and pensioner clubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early 1990s, the workshops of the enterprises were closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the advent of democracy, the land was distributed to its owners, but due to the lack of processing equipment, cooperatives were formed. They still exist today. Since the beginning of the new millennium, some of the owners began to engage in fruit growing, mainly apricots, plums, corn, sunflowers and tobacco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 1990, no football match has been held at the village stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agriculture plays a leading role in feeding the population in the village of Brenitsa. The villagers grow corn, sunflower, wheat, barley and other cereals. Technical oilseed crops such as rapeseed, lavender and others are also sown. Perennial crops – apricots, plums, cherries, etc. According to the residents of the village of Brenitsa, tobacco is the most profitable. In general, tobacco has been grown in the village since the early years of the 20th century and its cultivation continues today. There are also many automated and modernized cow farms in this village, which bring good profit. Usually these cow farms consist of 20-50 cows. The total number of farmers is 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lavender processing workshop was opened in 2013. Nowadays, the population makes its living mainly from agriculture – growing tobacco, lavender, walnuts, apricots, and livestock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mosques<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          There are 2 mosques (old and new).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

School<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until the liberation of Brenitsa from Romanian occupation in 1940, there was a private Turkish school in the village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hristo Botev Public Primary School – Brenitsa village was opened in 1940. The school was housed in the Turkish mosque. Since then, the Turkish and Bulgarian schools have existed. Education was conducted in combined classes. The first principal of the school was Ivan Minkov from Berkovitsa. In 1952, the fifth grade was opened in the school, and in the following two years, the sixth and seventh grades. About 50 students were educated in the school. The school was closed in 1964 due to a decrease in the number of students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A half-day kindergarten was opened in 1964. The teacher was I. Mincheva from the village of N. Poina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TCZS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 30, 1948, the Lenin Labor Cooperative Agricultural Farm was founded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following were elected as members of the Management Board: Hristo Dzhipov Yankov, Dimo \u200b\u200bBanchev Rashkov, Georgi Lazarov Popov, Iliya Lazarov Budin, Mityu Todorov Kostov, farmers by profession, all from the village of Brenitsa. The established farm began its production activity with 1720 decares of land belonging to the members and the land funds \u2013 1080 decares and animals, as follows: cattle \u2013 42; horses \u2013 14, sheep \u2013 106. In 1950, the farm was consolidated and numbered \u2013 88 households with a total arable area \u2013 6012 decares and animals: cattle \u2013 46, horses \u2013 14, sheep \u2013 267; pigs \u2013 56 and chickens \u2013 244.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main activity of the farm is purely production, raising crops and animals, which increased in 1958 to: cattle – 78; pigs – 240; sheep – 1243; poultry – 700 and horses – 51, with a total arable area of \u200b\u200b- 7300 decares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By protocol No. 1 of December 1, 1958, the farm was merged with the TKZS – the village of Belitsa, together with the villages of Varnentsi, Shumentsi, Bratomir and Preslavtsi. As a result of the merger of the villages, the OTKZS “Dimitar Blagoev” was formed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today the lands are cultivated by private farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protected area “Spring Botrytis Habitat”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is located in the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Brenitsa, it was declared a protected area in 2015 by order of the Minister of Environment and Water. Its area amounts to 31,925 decares of state forest fund, managed by the Territorial Division “State Forestry – Tutrakan”. The goal is to preserve the natural habitat of the spring cyclamen (Cyclamen coum), which is a perennial herbaceous plant that inhabits oak forests and scrublands. The leaves are large, kidney-shaped. The flowers are large, purple-pink, located on long stalks. It blooms from February to April. The species is protected by the Biological Diversity Act and is included in the Red Book of Bulgaria – category “Rare”. It is a medicinal plant within the meaning of the Medicinal Plants Act. It is included in the Bern Convention on the Conservation of Wild European Flora and Fauna and Natural Habitats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dobrudzha newspaper, Babadag, No. 14, July 27, 1917; Koledarov, P., N. Michev. Changes in the names and status of settlements in Bulgaria 1878\u20131972. S., 1973, p. 47; Documents on the history of Tutrakan 1878 \u2013 1944. Vol. 2007; History of Tutrakan. Vol. 2010; Guide to the funds of the State Archives \u2013 Silistra (1944 \u2013 2016). S., 2018; Ethnography of Tutrakan. Publ. Gutenberg. S. 2022; Encyclopedia Tutrakan. S. 2023. State Archives \u2013 Silistra, f. 250, f. 657<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.riosv-ruse.org<\/a> (accessed April 6, 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/brenitsa.weebly.com\/10471040-105310401057.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/libsilistra.bg\/index.php\/10-2017-02-08-13-49-00\/912-2020-11-27-12-56-49.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Location – it is located 20 km south of the municipal center Tutrakan, to the north is the village of Varnentsi, to the west is the village of Terter and the village of Madrevo, to the east is the village of Belitsa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1260,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1209"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2373,"href":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209\/revisions\/2373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elia-centre.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}