Ancient Fountain Revives Water supply โinโค Bulgaria’s Kragulevo Village
KRAGULEVO,DOBRICH PROVINCE,BULGARIA -โ After years of drought,teh โคvillage of Kragulevo in โnortheastern Bulgaria has secured a reliable water source by restoring a more than 200-year-old fountain. The initiative has โnot only ended a decade-and-a-half of water scarcity for the dwindling community but is now serving as aโค model for other villages facing similar challenges.
For years, Kragulevo’s residents struggled with intermittent or nonexistent water access, a hardship exacerbated by the village’s declining population – from over 800 residents inโ the past to fewer than 20 today.The restoration of the ancient fountain represents a lifeline for โthose remaining and a โtestamentโ to resourceful local leadership. The success story is already attracting attention fromโ neighboring communities, including Maslairovo near Polski Trambesh, seeking to replicate the solution.
“We’ve stood a lot without water, 10-15 years, it was veryโ difficult, but since we wereโ captured here, everything has beenโ decided,” explained a deputy to kragulevo’s mayor in a statement โฃto Bulgarian National Radio (BNR).โข The “captation,” or capture,refers to the โprocess of securingโ and channeling water from the historic spring.
Mayor Georgi Dimov emphasized the project’s success, stating, “We have been drowning one for the village and nowโฃ we are well, thereโ is โwater โconstantly. For 3-4 years we have been using the captation.” He is urgingโค other settlements with โขnatural fountains to consider similar restoration efforts.
Longtime residents recall the daily struggle ofโค hauling water by hand. “We carried by hand with the tubes.โค Let’s water, to wash, to take a bath. We have enduredโ these adversity for manyโค years,” โsaid โฃKalinka Krasteva, a kragulevo resident. Another villager, Denka petrova, remembered โฃlimited water access being strategically timed around elections or holidays. “Once they wouldโค let it go when there would be elections or for some holiday – for โฃEaster,for the New Yearโฆ,” she โขsaid. “Since we caught our fountain, we have no problems, but I have been old!”
The restored fountain, one of several located near the village, offers a enduring solution forโข Kragulevo, demonstrating how preserving ancient infrastructure can address modern challenges in rural Bulgaria.