For several days now I have been planning to write about our village Kosovo, located in the central part (Chernatitsa) of the Rhodope Mountains, 5 km from the balneological resort of Narechenski Bani. It is surrounded by hills with pristine nature, and its hamlets are crossed by four never-drying streams. It is easily accessible from Asenovgrad (30 km), Pamporovo (36 km), Plovdiv (50 km), Sofia (197 km).
We started curiously looking at the properties in the village (there were still a few on the market then) and at the end of our vacation, the landlady of Kosovo Houses offered us a property they had bought some time ago for business purposes. And so, quickly and unexpectedly, we found ourselves the owners of an old house that was definitely unlivable. But... there were a few strong walls, a preserved typical Kosovo bread oven and over an acre yard, steep, impossible to fence as it bordered the forest.
One of the four creeks in the village runs under our house. Beauty, romance, soul... and luck that we found reading masters from Shiroka Laka. Filip Terziyski undertook the entire commitment with the construction of a new house, according to the project of architect Rumyana Proikova from Plovdiv.
The turnkey construction took two years, in which craftsmen from Mogilitsa (bay Rushan), from Chokmanovo (Vasco), Mehmed Garbelov from Smolyan and others took part. During this time we were still abroad due to my husband's work and when we returned in 2018 we started settling into the new home.
The good thing about Kosovo is that it is a lively village where you will often see tourists from Bulgaria or abroad walking around.
So far, there are not many young families, we are 25 people living permanently + 3 children of preschool age. My grandchildren go to kindergarten in the neighboring village of Pavelsko, 15 minutes away by car. We shop mainly from Narechenski bani, Pavelsko or Hvoyna. There is a health service in Narechenski bani and in Pavelsko. In all three villages around us there are pharmacies, food and industrial stores. There is a kindergarten and a school in Pavelsko. In our village, the foreigners are from Canada, Germany, South Africa and the Netherlands (for now). We have a school waiting for ambitious people to restore and use for cultural mass events. Around the village there are many chapels and paths of different distances to Narechenski baths, Hvoyna, White Church. The project is to open an art cafe for souvenirs and handicrafts made by people from our village. Last year we managed to organize two seminars with Professor Damian Pophristov and his wonderful partner Yordanka Hadjiyska. The writer Hristo Nanev was also present as a lecturer at the second seminar. In 2023, we organized throwing of the cross on Yordanovden and Sirni Zagovezni with several folklore groups, a hajdushka troupe, kukeri and part of 100 kaba bagpipes.
On August 15, the church holiday is always celebrated with many sacrifices in the church yard, with family meetings, music and people in the choir in front of the local pub "Carefree Life".
There are currently 6 guest houses in our village and several more are under construction.
Last year,
Ron Brooke began to build a pilgrimage route, on which he built three small chapels of St. Petka, St. Demetrius and St. George. This garden will continue with several more.
There are many interesting people in our village, but we would like to see many more young people. What are the cons or problems here? Real estate is expensive, it takes nerves, money, patience, will and above all Ambition for those who decide that this is their place! Perhaps there are such adventurers? You can go to the village pub and look for Gosho who is a local resident and our real estate agent
. He knows which fallen house belongs to whom.
Latest news: from May 2022 we rented the restaurant in the complex "Kosovo houses" This is how our life in the village has become even more meaningful. When one is looking for opportunities, they are very close by, no need to look for a job in the city
https://selokosovo.com/.../noviat-ekip-na-restorant.../