19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media Delegation Lay Wreath at Monument of First Bulgarian Settlers in Zoria, Ukraine as Air Alert Sirens Sound

Desislava Toncheva, Ivan Lazarov, Nikolai Trifonov

The monument of the first Bulgarian settlers in the village of Kamchik (Zoria) (BTA Photo)

Kamchik (Zoria), Southern Ukraine,

18.06.2024 20:43

(BTA)

Tags

#Ukraine

The 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media delegation laid a wreath at the monument of the first Bulgarian settlers in the village of Kamchik (Zoria), who arrived in Ukraine in 1831. Air alert sirens wailed in the village during the event.

"In 1830, 90 families from the villages of Prilep and Podvis left Bulgaria. Late in the fall of 1830, 46 families arrived here," said Elena Arnaudova, museum director and a teacher of Bulgarian language and literature.

"We know the names of the first settlers," she pointed out. The names written on the monument are of the heads of the families who settled there, everything was documented, Arnaudova said, and added that all the surnames are still carried on today. The village has about 5,500 inhabitants.

The war in Ukraine is a big problem for the village, there is no electricity, there are no people, there are many problems, said local resident Georgi Chiklikchi, and added that there are Bulgarians from the village fighting at the front.

The delegation also visited the Museum of Life and Culture.

The official opening of the monument was on June 20, 2021 in the village of Zoria in the southern part of Odesa region, on the occasion of the 190th anniversary of the foundation of the village in memory of the first Bulgarian settlers who founded this settlement two centuries ago (old name Kamchik).

The composition of the monument is symbolic - the central figure is a large block of stone, made from the same material from which the first houses in the village were built. On the block there is a granite slab with carved names, of the 46 families who first came to the Budjak steppe. A wooden cart is placed above the slab, representing the way the settlers came to Bessarabia.

The project to errect the monument was initiated and sposored by Chiklikchi, who heads the Druzhba agricultural cooperative.

The Bulgarian delegation includes BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, BTA Deputy Director General Evgenia Drumeva, Bulgarian National Radio Director General Milen Mitev, head of the Council for Electronic Media Gabriela Naplatanova, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences President Acad. Julian Revalski, Rector of Sofia University Prof. Georgi Valchev, Consul General of Bulgaria in Odesa Svetoslav Ivanov, Executive Agency for Bulgarians Abroad Executive Director Rayna Mandzhukova , as well as representatives of Bulgarian media and Bulgarian-language media from different countries around the world.

BTA organizes the 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media in Odesa, Bolgrad and Izmail (Ukraine) from June 18 until June 21, 2024 with the assistance of Aurubis Bulgaria, A1 Bulgaria, Glavbolgarstroy Holding, Euroins Insurance Group, SOF Connect - the operator of Sofia Airport, 13 Centuries Bulgaria National Endowment Fund.

/VE/