Gumoshtnik
Village in Lovech Province, Bulgaria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gumoshtnik is a village in Troyan Municipality, Lovech Province, northern Bulgaria.[1]
Geography
Gumoshtnik is situated 499 metres above sea level in the Beklemeto Pass of the Balkan Mountains.[1] It lies 20 kilometres outside the town of Troyan and 15 kilometres from Apriltsi.[1]
Population
Gumoshtnik was at its largest in the 15th century, containing over 4,000 people at its height.[2] As of the 2021 census, the village has around 240 residents.[3]
History
The earliest evidence of settlement in Gumoshtnik dates from the 1st millennium BC, as bronze belts and armlets from the period were found in the village.[4]
Gumoshtnik was an administrative centre in the 15th century, containing seven public houses and eight manufacturing businesses.[2] Monastic education was introduced into the village in 1829, when a monastery school was founded.[2]
In 1926, residents built the St. Nicholas Letni Church, which has been declared a site of national significance for Bulgaria.[2][5][6] A year later, the village established a community center, named after Paisius of Hilendar.[2] The centre contains a library with over 9,000 books, and a gallery dedicated to artwork by a local artist, Tsanko Marinov.[2][7] Both have received local recognition as places of historical interest.[2][6]
Titanic
Of the 38 to 50 Bulgarian nationals who boarded the ill-fated Titanic in 1912, most of them were from Gumoshtnik.[8][9] A total of eight men from Gumoshtnik were on board, who died when the boat sank.[10]
A memorial stands on the grounds of the St. Nicholas Letni Church,[3][9] and Gumoshtnik residents hold an annual remembrance of the disaster.[11][12] The Gumoshtnik memorial is the only memorial dedicated to the disaster in Bulgaria.[11][13]
The Gumoshtnik residents who are presumed to have died on the Titanic are as follows:
- Peyo Kolchev: Also listed as Petr Kolev and Peju Coltcheff; a general labourer who boarded the Titanic aged 36.[14][10][15]
- Lazar Minkov: First cousin of Peyo, he was 23 years of age.[15][16]
- Penko Naidenov: Aged 22 at the time of the disaster.[17]
- Iliya Stoychev: Aged 19 at the time of the disaster.[18][10]
- Lazar Yonkov: Went by the nickname of “Lalyo,” and was 23 years old at the time of his presumed death.[19][10][15]
- Marin Markov: 35 years old at the time of his presumed death.[20][10]
- Stoycho Mihov: 28 years old at the time of the disaster.[21][15]
- Nedyalko Petrov: Also known as Nedialco Petroff.[22] Though he is recorded in the British National Archives as having been 19 years old at the time of his presumed death,[23] he is remembered locally as having been newly 18 years old at the time of the disaster.[15][10]
Although some sources erroneously record that one of the eight men from the village survived, this appears to be based on a local legend,[3] as the memorial contains eight names that can be located on the Titanic's passenger list.[24][25][14]