Satovcha

The village of Satovcha is situated in Southwestern Bulgaria in the border parts of the Southwestern Rhodope Mountain. The legend tells that the village of Satovcha existed yet before Bulgaria’s conquering by the Ottomans, named Svatovitsa or Satovitsa. The local people inhabited the region believing they would be protected here. The name of the village probably comes from the ancient-Bulgarian word sad (a honeycomb) or from the personal name Sato. The village was mentioned in the Ottomans’ registers yet in the second half of 15th century. In 1844 the people constructed the church St. Nedelia. In 1873 the first monastery school was opened, and in 1892 – the first new-Bulgarian secular school, and later – the community center. Near the village the archeologists found rare antique necropolis and ruins of an antique and a medieval settlement declared monuments of culture. Remains from the Roman Ages and the early Middle Ages were also found. Nowadays, the pureness of the air, the mineral resources and the soils determine the region as of the most ecological in Bulgaria.

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