Kochan

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Coordinates: 41°35′N 24°2′E / 41.583, 24.033
Kochan Кочан
— Village —

Kochan Location of Kochan
Country	Bulgaria
Province (Oblast)	Blagoevgrad
Municipality (Obshtina)	Satovcha
Government
- Mayor	Rumen Orachev
Elevation	961 m (3,153 ft)
Population (2007-15-12)^[1]
- Total	3,076
- Density	93.83/km² (243/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal Code	2955
Area code(s)	07545
Car plates	E

Kochan (Bulgarian: Кочан) is a village in southwestern Bulgaria. It is located in the municipality of Satovcha, Blagoevgrad province.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Religion
4 Public institutions
5 Culture and nature
6 Literature
7 Regular events
8 Nightlife and entertainment
- 8.1 Kitchen
9 External links
10 Notes

[edit] Geography

The center of the village of Kochan. The local government office on the background.

The village of Kochan is located in mountainous region in southwestern Bulgaria 10 km away from the border with Greece in the Chech region. The village is surrounded by high peaks, the tallest of which is the Marashka Chuka with 1414 m elevation. A small river passes through the village, taking its source from Karst spring several kilometers north of the village. There are different types of rocks, soils and typical wood vegetation.

There are coniferous, deciduous and mixed type forests on the territory of the village. Birch forests dominate the lowest terrains. The largest birch massif on the Balkans is situated on Kochan territory.

In the second half of the 20^th century a large portion of the birch forest was cut and the deforestated regions were planted with pine trees.

It is known that the village was once surrounded by a century old birch forest which extinguished some 1.5-2 centuries ago due to a large bush fire.

[edit] History

The village of Kochan has a rich history. The remains of the villages around are dated to 8^th centuries BC. They were populated by the Thracian tribes called Bessi and Satrae. The modern village was founded between 4^th and 5^th century AD. It is being speculated that Alexander The Great passed through the village on his way to Perperikon. Later the villages of the region fell under Roman rule. The two Roman graves in the outskirts of the village testify for the Roman presence in the village and just three kilometers north of the village lay the remains of an ancient Roman settlement and a Roman built church. There are scarce remains from the later Byzantine rule.

During the 14^th century Kochan was added to Momchil Voyvoda's realm (Momchil, Greek Mimetil or Mimet in the local dialect). When the Ottomans arrived, Momchil supported them, so the village was safe from being drawn in a war and avoided massacres. According to the old inhabitants of the village, the very Sultan Bayezid I passed through the village, built a mosque and gained the support of the local people.

There is information that in a later period of the ottoman rule, the population of this part of the Rhodope mountain expelled the local ottoman officials in protest because of the high taxes. The authorities returned seven years later.

In 1912 during the Balkan Wars, Kochan was acceded to Bulgaria.

Most probably the ancient name of the village was Akrovoni. Translated from Greek, it means end of a mountain which is in accordance with the geographical position of the village. In documents from the 19^th century it is being mentioned as 'Kochen' which refutes the common idea of the name, being a derivative of the words koch (ram) and han (inn) which coexisted at some point in the village. Note that the local inhabitants omit the sound 'h'! As of today, the origin of the name is still unclear.

[edit] Religion

Medieval inscription on the mosque in Kochan.

The ancient ancestors of the inhabitants of Kochan confessed the common Thracian polytheistic religion. The discoveries of shrines and artifacts in the territory of the village support this thesis. It is being speculated that around the 4^th century Saint Paul converted the population of the region to Christianity, but no proofs in support of that claim have been discovered so far. The only thing that reminds of the presence of Christianity in the area is the remains of church in the Cyrkvata area north of the village. But it is well known that the church was built by Roman soldiers, often using the road to Plovdiv. The scholars think that Christianity never found solid ground in this region because the local folk was not in good relations with the neighboring Greeks and they avoided converting to Christianity in order to avoid the influence of the Greek clerics. It is, though, possible that the inhabitants of the region confessed Paulicianism and Bogomilism. There is even probability that they remained pagan until a much later period similar to the northern part of modern Bulgaria which converted to Christianity during the 9^th century.

Rumor has it that Islam came in Kochan sometime between 8^th and 10^th century during the wars of the Caliphate with Byzantium. There is a probability that an Arabic military party reached the village or it was visited by Islamic missionaries. The existence of Arabic kins in Kochan points that maybe during these wars, Byzantium interned the Islamic population from its borders with the Caliphate in Rhodope and presumably in Kochan. The people in Kochan sing a song which tells the story of the Ottoman arrival and their surprise to find Muslim inhabitants in the vllage.

In 1912 the Bulgarian army acceded Kochan to the present Bulgarian state. Not like the inhabitants of most neighboring villages, the inhabitants of Kochan chose to convert to Christianity when they were posed an ultimatum by the Bulgarian army and they avoided the genocide which took place in many villages in Rhodope. The mayer and the imam of the village gathered the people and explained to them that according to the Koran it is permissible to convert to other religion when threaten by death, on the condition to remain a true Muslim in the heart. When the army arrived, it destroyed the mosque and built a church. The expelled Bulgarians from present Greece were given land and real estate in the village, but very soon after the withdrawal of the Bulgarian army they fled leaving the church unattended. Eventually the church was dismissed and the mosque and Islam restored by the end of 1913.

During the totalitarian regime in Kochan, as everywhere in Bulgaria, the confession of any religion was limited and the access to the mosque baned. Eventually in 1989 the minaret of the mosque was ruined in such a manner that it damaged the whole building. Immediately after the rise of democracy in the late 1989, an effort to repair the mosque began. It was finished to its present date state in 1991. A few repair works have been undertaken during the last years, but they are merely cosmetics. Though the mosque is in good condition, it needs further repair works and upgrades like installing a heating system and renovating the bathroom. No resources for these works have been found so far.

In general the inhabitants of Kochan are not very religious. Actually many people from the neighboring villages call them giauri (unbelievers).

[edit] Public institutions

The following public institutions are established in the village of Kochan: local government office, hospital, primary and secondary schools, three kindergartens, post office, mosque, small museum and chitalishte.

[edit] Culture and nature

A nice view from north of Kochan (Chinjovo summit) towards Greece.

The different relief forms of the mountain combined with the different types of forests, the fields and the meadows comprise to fantastic scenes and landscapes. The surrounding of the village is very picturesque. One can see regions in Greece from the highlands and notably mount Falakro. Other fantastic scenes are the mountains Slavyanka, Pirin and Rhodope. There remains of several Thracian villages lay around the villages. Notably in the regions Ushite, Kravek, Livadeto and Redovna niva. There are also two ancient cities - one in Iztok and the second is adjacent to the road fork for the village. The most fascinating view is the fortress near the city in the Iztok region. Other ancient cities are discovered in the territory of the neighboring villages and specifically the ones in Visoka magiltsa and Orfeevoto.

It is less than 10 km to the Konski dol natural park, 19 km to the Tymnata gora natural park and 25 km to Dospat Dam.

[edit] Literature

Kochan has a rich folklore. There are many typically Kochani songs that are being sung. Some of them, eventually, were included in the Veda Slovena collection.

[edit] Regular events

The weekly market is held every Thursday in the center of the village.
In 2004 the tradition of holding a fair was reintroduced. It takes place every year on the Vaklinovski livadi meadows.
In 1995 the tradition of holding a school festival was reintroduced. Students from different ages present theatrical scenes, sing songs or dance traditional or modern dances.

[edit] Nightlife and entertainment

A cheshma in the outskirts of Kochan.

There is a disco club in Kochan, a lot of cafes and two mehani (old fashioned traditional bar similar to an Irish pub). The inhabitants of Kochan are jolly fellows and like to joke a lot, especially in the cafes which are normally overcrowded during the weekly market on Thursdays, national and religious holidays and weddings which are celebrated by the whole village. The people of Kochan love organizing barbecues and for that purpose they have built tens of rest places near the notorious cheshmi which number more than 200 only in the vicinity of the village.