Bosilovo (Босилово) - a village in the Municipality of Bosilovo, near the
city of Strumica. The village is the seat of the municipality.
Bosilovo is located in the southeastern part of the Republic of
Macedonia, in the central part of the Strumica Valley. The road
Strumica-Novo Selo passes through the village. It is 15 km away from
the nearest town Strumica. From the right side of the village passes
the river Strumica while above the village passes the river Turija,
which flows into the river Strumica near the village Turnovo.
The altitude in the village is 214 meters while the village
covers an area of 8.1 km2. Of these, 708.6 hectares are arable
land, 39.5 hectares are pastures and 1.4 are forests.
Bosilovo is located in the southeastern part of the Republic of
Macedonia, in the central part of Strumica Kotlina. The Strumica-Novo
Selo road passes through the village. It is 15 kilometers away from the
nearest town Strumica. The river Strumica passes on the right side of
the village, while the river Turia passes above the village, which flows
into the river Strumica near the village of Turnovo.
The altitude
in the village is 214 meters while the village covers an area of 8.1
km2. Of these, 708.6 hectares are arable land, 39.5 hectares are
pastures and 1.4 are forests.
Saint Athanasius — Orthodox church located in Bosilovo, Bosilovo
Municipality.
History
The Christian temple in Bosilovo,
dedicated to Saint Athanasius, was built in 1842 and is one of the
oldest in the region. At first, the church was served in Greek, but
after the teacher A. Kostentsev with a group of students participated in
the service in Slavic language on the Day of the Savior in 1869, the
majority of the villagers no longer wanted to hear about the Greek
language in the church. After this case, villagers came here from the
surrounding villages to hear words they understood.
The church
was painted by "the humble painter Andon Petrovich, from the village of
Gari, said Debar", as he signed himself.
Early period
It is not known today exactly when the
settlement was founded, but it is assumed that it happened before
the beginning of Turkish rule in this area. There are several
legends about the origin of the village.
According to one
legend, the village used to have a different location. It was
located about half a kilometer north of the current location and was
called Nejcino, and its neighboring village was Dragomirovo, which
then lived about twenty Roma families, but this village was burned
in the early twentieth century, ie 1913.
Ottoman Empire
During the Ottoman rule in this area, the territory where Bosilovo
is today was the estate of several Turkish beys. Otherwise, in the
area of the villages Bosilovo and Dragomirovo at that time there
were farms: Mehmed-bey, Zejni-bey, Riza-bey, Arif-bey and others.
Some of the beys allowed the landowners to build primitive houses on
the site of what is now a village. Thus, a farmer from Nejcino,
according to folklore, named Bosiljan (Bosilko, Bosil), was the
first to build a house on this place. Later, when the village of
Nejcino was set on fire and destroyed, the beys helped build houses
for the other elders around the new construction of Bosilko.
Thus, a new neighborhood was established on that place, which was
named Bosilovo after the name of the first inhabitant Bosilko. Over
time, Bosilovo began to grow, so the beys built their homes in it.
In 1842, the Macedonian population built the church "St.
Athanasius". The church was first served in Greek, but after teacher
A. Kostentsev with a group of students, on the Day of Salvation in
1869 participated in the service in the Slavic language, the
majority of the villagers no longer wanted to hear about Greek in
the church. After this case, villagers came here from the
surrounding villages to hear words they understood.
There was
also a mosque in the village, the remains of which were visible
until 1895.
According to the statistics of Vasil K'nchov
("Macedonia. Ethnography and Statistics") in 1900 the village had
465 inhabitants, of which 430 Macedonians and 35 Turks. The village
was under the influence of the Bulgarian Exarchate. According to the
data of the Secretary of the Exarchate Dimitar Mishev ("La Macedoine
et sa Population Chrétienne") in 1905 in the village lived 320
Macedonians under the supremacy of the Bulgarian Exarchate. In
addition, there was an exarchate school in the village.
On
March 25, 1907, the village of Bosilovo and neighboring villages
were affected by a major flood from the Stara Reka and Turija
rivers. One record states that the whole village was flooded and
that the floods caused great damage to the local population.
After the start of the Balkan Wars, one person from the village was
a volunteer in the Macedonian-Odrina volunteer detachments.
According to the Carnegie Balkan Commission, during the war, the
Muslim population in the Strumica area was first gathered in a
mosque in the city on the orders of VMRO troops, and later 18 of the
richest of them were tied up and taken to Bosilovo, where they were
killed. After the end of the war, when the decision was made that
the village and the Strumica region would belong to Bulgaria, the
Greek armies committed a number of atrocities before withdrawing
from these areas. Residents of Bosilovo complained to the Bulgarian
regular army about the torture inflicted by Greek troops on the
local population.
Yugoslavia
After the end of the Balkan
Wars, the village was included in the Kingdom of Bulgaria. After the
end of the First World War, according to the Nej Peace Treaty, the
village was included in the Kingdom of SCS, together with the
Strumica region.
Prior to the outbreak of World War II, not a
single health facility in the surrounding villages in the Strumica
region was reduced. Thus, one of the first to be opened in the
region was in the village of Bosilovo. In the period between the two
world wars, the village was under constant attack and raids by the
Serbian police, who were looking for people connected with VMRO. The
victims of this terror were often the peaceful local population of
the village.
After the outbreak of World War II, in 1942-1943
the local population began to organize against the fascist occupier.
After the established connections between the other settlements, the
priest Risto Gavrovski joined the popular movement from the village,
through Boro Johnny. After Bulgaria crossed over to the side of the
anti-fascist forces, the 48th Bulgarian Regiment was stationed in
the village and a meeting was held in the village between the
Strumica partisan detachment and the Bulgarian side for joint
actions against the German forces. During the war, the following
people lost their lives in the village: Ginin Vancho, Gjorgiev
Vancho, Dedejski Asen, Dedejski Nake, Karamazov Stojan and Paralidov
Boris, while the list of victims of fascist terror includes: Gavrov
Atanas, Gavrov Boris, Kostadinova Slava.
After the end of the
Second World War, Bosilovo was included within the FR of Macedonia,
as part of the SFRY.
Macedonia
After the disintegration of the SFRY, the village
was formally included in the Republic of Macedonia. According to the
territorial organization of the Republic of Macedonia, the village
belongs to the Municipality of Bosilovo, as the administrative
center of the municipality of the same name.
According to the population census of Macedonia from 2002, the
village has 1,698 inhabitants, of which 1,697 are Macedonians and 1
other.
According to the last census of 2021, 1,273 inhabitants
lived in the village, of which 1,217 Macedonians, 4 Serbs and 52 people
without data.
Polling station
In the village there are polling stations no. 1811
and 1812 according to the State Election Commission, located in the
elementary school and the House of Culture.
In the 2019
presidential elections, a total of 1,394 voters were registered at these
polling stations.
In the Macedonian parliamentary elections in
2020, a total of 1,400 voters were registered at these polling stations.
Ivan Vasilevski (1947-2015) - Macedonian poet and novelist.
Eftim
Vanev Vuchkov - Macedonian revolutionary.