Jane's Walk in Haskovo: "Ovcharcki - The Neighborhood of the Shepherds"

On the 4th of May, Saturday, we organized "Jane's Walk" for a first time in Bulgaria and on the Balkan peninsula, and in Eastern Europe. After we made the first Google hangout on social and political issues in Bulgaria, the team of The Garden Association became a pioneer in another important subject. 

Jane's Walk is an international initiative, run by a group of friends, supporters and followers of Jane Jacobs - the prominent urban development thinker, social activist and community organizer. It is a very simple idea - each year people from the city get together and walk across a certain neighborhood, led by a local volunteer, called walk leader. They discuss the story of the neighborhood, its identity, its open spaces' specifics and walkability, and eventually whether it is friendly for living and what could be done for the life of the local community to be improved.

Jane's Walk is very famous in Canada and the US and gradually becomes popular in Western Europe too. But in Eastern Europe, and in particular the Balkans, it is still an unknown event. There are initiatives like Free Sofia Tour, led by volunteers, but they provide mainly free guide services for the foreign tourists and their goal is the make foreigners more familiar with the landmarks of the Bulgarian capital's center.

How we went into this? 

I discovered Jane's Walk last year, while searching for more information about Jane Jacobs' activism. I thought that it is a great initiative and that The Garden Association should take part in this. We are admirers of Jane Jacobs. Our chairman +Lydia Staikova has read many Jacobs' works. Also, I have a professional interest in the fields of Environmental psychology and community development, which are related to some of the issues that concerned Jane Jacobs.

The Walk itself

I must say that the Walk is always held in the first weekend of May in honor of Jane's birthday. So we chose 4th of may, Saturday. But first of all, I registered myself as City organizer in the Jane's Walk website and then I registered my walk "Ovcharcki - The Neighborhood of the Shepherds" and made this Google map:

Then I made a Facebook event and I invited my fellow-citizens who would be interested in this walk.

The Green Corner - I took photo for the
FB event from Google Street View.

And The Day came. At the appointed time and at the appointed place the people started to gather, one by one. The Meeting Point is a significant place: in the past, about 70 years ago, it was the School of Nursing in Haskovo. It is at the crossroads of "Makedoniya" Str. and "Osvobozhdenie" Blvd. and here is the western border of my neighborhood "Ovcharski."

The first walkers come. 
At the background - the 
former School of Nursing.

For many years this building has not been a School of Nursing. It is the headquarter of municipal company for funerals. But I gave a better name for this location: The Green Corner. First, because the building is painted in green, and second, because at the street there is a the small garden with green bushes.

Our walk started on "Makedoniya" Str. - one of the two streets, alongside with "Dragoman" Str., which cross the entire neighborhood from West to East (or the opposite). Stop One was the Fire Station. Since the day when it was founded, the Fire station of Haskovo has been located at this place. Many years ago, the first firemen used wagons with horses and barrels of water to extinguish the fires. See the Fire station via Google Street View:

We discussed the fate of the horses in the time of the first firemen and then we continued the walk.

Walking and talking, after stopping - more talking :)

Stop Two. I call it The First Settlers, because here is the historical heart of the neighborhood. Here lived the founders of this neighborhood, and what gives me a special feeling is that many of their descendants still live here. The neighborhood was called "Ovcharski", because the first settlers were farmers and breeders, and especially because they had a lot of sheep (Bulgarian: "Овчарски"; English: "Shepherd's neighborhood"; Turkish: "Çoban mahalle").

Now we are at the historical heart of the neighborhood! I am very passionate while talking about The First Settlers, some of whom were my ancestors. They come here more than 160 years ago. By the way, do you see the lime tree - near this place there was a water fountain for the local people.

The church "Sv.Georgi"

Stop Three - the local Orthodox church "Sveti Georgi" (aka "St.George"). It was built by The First Settlers about 160 years ago, when the Bulgarian people was under the yoke of the Ottoman empire. The church was named after Saint George - the protector of the shepherds (and you remember that "Shepherd's" is the neighborhood's name). Through the years three men from my family were members of the church board.


Stop Four - the park. Now this place is a park, but it was intended to be something different. In the late 1940s the local people planned to build a new and more beautiful church for their neighborhood. But the communist regime, which came to power in this time, was atheistic and anti-Christian in its nature, so the plan failed... Well, at least now we have a park with playground for the kids. See the park via Google Street View:

Stop Five - the small (and nameless) square with the building of the local Community center. In the past the building did not exist and the small square was a bigger place where the local people celebrated their feasts and made their gatherings with traditional songs and folk dances. Around 1950-1955 this wonderful tradition disappeared. I would not venture to say whether this was because of communism, or because of modernity, or both. As a location, in this period this square was at the end of the neighborhood, but actually this was its center, its main social space. Actually today it still has this function, because here is situated the local community center, and there are two grocery stores and a small open market for fruits and vegetables. As for the Community center, today its social function is limited to give shelter of the local pensioners to play cards and board games. See it via Google Street View:

The local people call the school "Otec Paisiy"
(in English "Father Paisiy").

Stop Six - the school "Sv. Paisiy Hilendarski" (St. Paisiy of Hilendar) which was initially created as a church school at the church "Sv. Georgi" (see Stop Three). Later a separate building was built, more relevant to the educational needs of the local community. But even in a separate building, we must remember that the school (as an institution) is a direct continuer of the church school. Four generations from our family had studied in this school.

Here the walk finished. Saying Thank you! to the walkers.

After Jane's Walk we decided to have a Jane's Beer at the local pub.

NOTE: Totally 12 people and one dog joined my first Jane's Walk. They are: +Hristo Dimchev, Veselin Harmandzhiev, Plamen Moskov, Petronka Stankova, Petar Stankov, +Lydia Staikova, Mariyana Valcheva, +Simon Zenopian, Petya Skerleva, +Vladimir Grachki, +Yanko Zaprianov and +Kiril Hristov. 
The dog's name is Casper.