Discover Negushevo

Negushevo brings together cultural heritage and historical landmarks with a viewpoint north of the village. The village is considered a place that has preserved the atmosphere and charm of times gone by. When planning a stay, you can explore culture, history and landscape as distinct themes.

Cultural life and traditions

Chitalishte Vazrazhdane-1922 was founded in 1922. Its aims included promoting education and the intellectual and moral development of its members and the villagers. The chitalishte preserves and passes on traditional customs. Its programme includes weekly creative workshops for children, Bulgarian folk dance classes, and meetings with writers and artists. It also offers training and meetings on agriculture and sustainable living; the community centre also hosts cultural events, cinema and art. As activities and dates may change, check in advance what is taking place during your stay.

The chitalishte folk dance group represents Negushevo with a repertoire of more than 70 folk dances. Alongside opportunities to take part, passing on dance traditions is also central to the village’s cultural life.

Religious and historical heritage

The Church of Saint Venerable Paraskeva preserves a collection of old Church Slavonic books. The church gallery houses engravings depicting the Old and New Testaments, dating from 1901, as well as a small commemorative exhibition. The books, artworks and exhibition represent different aspects of Negushevo’s religious cultural heritage.

Older traces also form part of the village’s history: the land around Negushevo preserves the remains of a Thracian sanctuary and a medieval fortress. Negushevo has also been used as a filming location for Bulgarian films and screen adaptations. These landmarks span early historical periods, the artworks of 1901 and the history of film.

The Tree of Life and the Gorna Malina referendum

The “Tree of Life” monument was erected in Negushevo in 2015 to preserve the story of the Gorna Malina referendum. It is a monument to direct democracy in Bulgaria. The referendum associated with the monument is linked to protecting the natural environment of Gorna Malina Municipality and the start of its development as a green municipality. Thus, a monument in the village also points to a municipal issue whose significance extends beyond Negushevo alone.

Views over the village and mountains

The Negushevo Viewpoint is on the Rudinata hill north of the village. From there, you can enjoy sweeping views over Negushevo and the surrounding mountains. This offers a different way to experience the village from its cultural and historical landmarks: here, the focus is on the village as a whole and its landscape setting.

The wider destination of Gorna Malina

Gorna Malina Municipality also offers its own regional setting. It stretches from 584 m in the area of Dolna Malina to 1,655 m at Mount Zvezdets (Shindarnika) in the area of Stragel. The Makotsevska River flows through the municipality and is a right tributary of the Lesnovska in the Iskar basin.

In Bailovo, Elin Pelin’s preserved home was converted into a museum in 1977 to mark the 100th anniversary of the writer’s birth. The Elin Pelin Memorial House contains the exhibition “The Life and Work of Elin Pelin”. Other regional attractions include the eco-educational trail from Arabakonak Pass to the Bebresh spring and the traditional annual hike “In the Footsteps of Elin Pelin”. The trail runs through the northern part of the municipality, in the Stragel area of the western Stara Planina, and is 8,915 m long. The hike goes from the centre of Bailovo to the Manastir caves; the one-way route is 10.5 km long and takes about 3.5 hours. Check the dates and arrangements for the hike in the relevant year in advance.

Discover more destinations: Sarantsi, Gorna Malina, Bailovo, Makotsevo.

Go to the main travel overview: Gorna Malina.