Berkovitsa Municipality

The municipality is located in the southern part of the Montana district. With its area of ​​463,705 km2 it occupies the 2nd place among the 11 municipalities of the area, which represents 12.91% of the territory of the region.

The relief of the municipality is high and medium and low mountainous, and its territory falls entirely within the Western Balkan Mountains and the Western Fore-Balkan.

In the southern and western half of the municipality occupy the northern slopes of two mountains, parts of the Western Balkan Mountains. To the west to the border with Georgi Damyanovo municipality, to the north by the Ogosta river valley, to the east up to the Barzia river valley and the Petrohan pass, and to the south to the border with the Sofia region extend the northern slopes of the Berkovska Mountain. From the ridge of the mountain north to the valley of the Ogosta River long and narrow ridges descend, among which in the deep and forested valleys are the rivers Burzia and Zlatitsa and their numerous small tributaries and gullies. Here, on the border with the municipality of Godech, is the high peasant of the mountain and of the municipality peak Kom (2016 m).

Berkovitsa is an ancient city - on historical maps of VII-IX century it is marked as an old settlement and an inner city of the Bulgarian state. During Turkish domination, it is an administrative center.

The earliest evidence of the history of the city dates back to the first millennium BC. At that time, the Berkovski region was inhabited by the Thracian tribe of Misi, and in the middle of the millennium there were the tribal ones. At the strategic heights around the city the Thracians built fortresses. They cultivated wheat and sheeps, worked iron, and mined gold in the valleys of the Zlatitsa and Vreštitza rivers. In 29 BC the Macedonian governor, Marc Lizzini Kras, breaks the barstars and conquers the lands to the Danube in, which borders is our lands. The province of Mizia was established, which in 86 AD is was divided into Upper and Lower Mizia with the Tsibritsa River border. The Romans have romanized the local Thracian population and contributed to the development of the economy and culture.

The Berkovski region is experiencing the fate of the First Bulgarian State, the Byzantine rule, the Second Bulgarian Kingdom and its fall under Ottoman domination.

During the Ottoman domination Berkovitsa is the seat of the kaza (district), nahia and vilayet. The first mention of Berkovitsa in Ottoman documents dates back to 1445/1446. The region did not stay away from the uprising of Constantine and Fruzhin (1408-1413) and the Chiprovtsi Uprising (1688).

The decade before the Liberation from 1867 to 1877 is characterized mainly by the cultural development of the city. On October 13, 1870, a girls school was opened, the two-class school "Otets Paisiy" and the cathedral "St. Nicholas the Wonderworker "- 1871. Then a community center" Buddhas "was founded (May 11, 1872). In 1874 a student association was established. This is the period when Berkovian Alexander Damyanov (Archimandrite Antim) builds the Klisura Monastery.

The preparations for the April Uprising also include Berkovitsa, but Northwest Bulgaria remained passive when the uprising broke out. However, on 31 May 1876, the Revolutionary Committee and others from Berkovitsa, a total of 24 people, were arrested for their involvement in the preparations for the uprising and 8 people, headed by Hadji Petar Hadjiiliev, were tried and sent to the Vidin fortress.

The liberation of Berkovitsa from the Ottomans began on 3 November and lasted until 4 December 1877. For a month, Russian troops organized intelligence and battled with the Turks until finally the latters had emptied the city.

After the Liberation, the city remained a district administrative center, but it developed relatively slowly. Berkovitsa is gradually losing its economic importance. Many settlements are separated from the municipality. A number of crafts are dying.

During the Second World War, many participated in the armed resistance.

Real growth of the city in economic and cultural terms took place in the second half of the twentieth century, when many factories were built. The city was well-developed. New schools, a community center, a museum, an art gallery, a mineral bath, a stadium, sports grounds, holiday resorts and tourist chalets are being built.
Now the municipality has 20 settlements with a total population of 18 803 inhabitants (01.02.2011).
Ethnic groups of 18287 self-identified (2011):
Bulgarians: 15065
Turks: 12
gypsies: 3059
others: 76
undefined: 75

Its location, the natural and climatic conditions form Berkovitsa sharped it as a summer resort in the beginning of the last century. Since 1974 the city is a national resort attracting mainly with the temperate climate with mild, sunny winter and cool summer, because of the fresh mountain air and clear Balkan water, set the curative mineral springs in the vicinity.
Discover Berkovitsa - an attractive place for hiking and recreation, sports and entertainment!