HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE
The geographical location of the village determines its historical significance from ancient times. It is one of the oldest settlements in the valley. It occurs during the Thracians one kilometer east of the present village around the Radomir Gorge. It is not known what its original name was. Occasional archaeological findings such as bronze, clay, copper, silver, gold and ceramic objects, iron tools and knives, swords and more suggest that the settlement is from the late Iron Age.
The village also existed during the period of Roman rule, when it expanded to the west. It encompasses a natural mound, which rises between the Radomir Gorge and the Chuchura Spring on an area of 400 – 500 meters in diameter. In this area are found the basics of housing, Roman coins, doliums and clay pipes for water supply. The findings support the legend that at the top of the Radomir Mound there was a Roman road station that served the Roman road from Kabile (Yambol), through the Tvarditsa Pass, the upper Elena Pass at the Kupin Monastery through the village to Nikopolis ad Istrum, which is the centre of the Roman province Lower Moesia.
There is comparatively more information about the village from the years of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, and especially after the victory of Tsar Ivan Asen II on March 9, 1230 AD at Klokotnitsa. After that victory, he erected the St.40 Martyrs Church in Turnovo and built a monastery on the high hill south of the village of Merdanya, also called “St.40 Martyrs”. In memory of these great events for Bulgaria and the coming peace, the villages Radomira (joy and peace), Dragizhevo (dear life) and Merdanya (peace be given) are named.
In the village of Radomira the Holy Trinity Church is erected, which is supported by the legends, customs and inscriptions of the cornice of the present St. John the Baptist Church in the village. The existing tradition of the Holy Trinity Christian holiday in Radomir locality in the area of Radomir also speaks of making a kurban (vow), which was later made in the meadow by the Chuchura fountain.
At the end of the 14th century, Turkish troops invaded Bulgaria and during the spring of 1393, Sultan Bayazid, with a huge army, besieged the capital Turnovo. After a three-month siege on July 17, 1393, Tarnovo fell.
The village of Radomir is one of the strongholds to the approaches of Turnovo, guarding the passage. Probably there was an army in the village, which, supported by the population, even before the siege of Tarnovo gave heroic resistance to the conqueror. The Ottomans, enraged by the insolence and perseverance of the Bulgarian population, attacked cruelly and destroyed the village, killing the rulers and part of the male population, capturing and enslaving women, children and men, and those who manage to escape are hiding in the Elena Balkan.
After the storm, some of the surviving residents of the village returned and rebuilt their homes. After the fall of Ottoman rule, Radomir was called under another name – CHERNOVETS. As the village is located at a crossroads and close to the passage through which Turkish troops and tax collectors pass, robbing the Bulgarian population and outraging them, they were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge and shelter in the nearby Tsera forest. There they cut down part of the forest and build their houses. Only in 1803 did the official documents mention the name Tserova koria or Tserovo.
Ottoman ruling
During the Ottoman rule many of the refugee Bulgarians in the Elena and Tryavna Balkans returned to the village. In the Turkish village it is called Kediev Chiflik. According to legend, the mayor of the village in 1640 was Chorbadzhi Petko of the Tsanov clan. The man was strong, hard-working and very smart. He had seven children, four sons and three daughters. When he was mayor, the archive was housed in his large house in the centre of the village. He was greatly respected by the Turks until one day a rich Turk asked for his wife Sunday. Petko refused and the Turkish kidnapped his daughter. Later, the man’s sons found their sister and killed the Turk. Since then, the Turks feared this kind of retaliation.
From 1760, moth caterpillars began to be seen in the village. In 1860 Stefan Karagiozov opened a factory for the production of caterpillars for their silk capabilities in the village.