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Did you know…? 15 curious facts about Kazashko village near Varna
We have gathered 15 facts from the mayor’s office’s “Did you know…” series and from other sources. They show how much history fits into the smallest village in Varna.
1. The talks begin in Sofia in 1897
On 16 November 1897 Matvey Rusov led a group of Old Believers from the Romanian village of Sarichioi to Sofia. The Bulgarian government set a condition: at least 100 families before they could have their own settlement. The move only became a reality in 1905. Today one of the streets in Kazashko bears Rusov’s name.
2. The elders want a church with 5–6 bells
Even during the talks, the elders set conditions of their own. They wanted the children to learn Church Slavonic and singing, and the village to have a church with five or six bells. Today the church has five bells.
3. The bells were cast from cartridge cases
In the mid-20th century men from Kazashko worked as gunners on gemiyas (small sailing boats) that hunted dolphins for Varna cooperatives. According to local tradition, they collected the bronze cartridge cases and gave them to be cast into the five bells, as a plea for forgiveness.
4. The Tsar buys a dress for a 5-year-old girl
Tsar Boris III often came to Kazashko. Once he was taken with 5-year-old Salomonida from a large family and, with her parents’ permission, bought her a dress in town. She treasured the memory until the age of 86.
5. The Tsar gives the Cossacks more land
By Decree No. 50 of September 1924 the Cossacks received an additional field east of the village. The houses east of Yasen Street stand there today.
6. A boat for the Tsar and a master’s certificate
The boatbuilder Kondrat Danailov built a boat for Boris III and received a master craftsman’s certificate from the Tsar in person.
7. His son builds the longboat “Perun”
Master Kondrat’s son, Foma Kondratov, built a model of a medieval Slavic longboat in two months. In 1987 “Perun” sailed from Kyiv down the Dnieper to Varna, and later along the Danube and into the Aegean Sea.
8. The first school was a wooden hut
In 1927 a private Cossack school for 20 children was permitted. The first teacher was the deacon Feodor Prokopov. The children also learned Church Slavonic so they could help in the church.
9. The lake used to freeze
Lake Varna froze in 1907, 1932, 1942, 1954 and 1962. In the hardest frost, down to −26 °C, the ice was 30 cm thick. Old people tell how they crossed with carts and sledges to fetch firewood from the opposite shore, towards Zvezditsa. Today the saltier water no longer allows the lake to freeze like that.
10. Zahari Stoyanov lived here
Between 1866 and 1870 Zahari Stoyanov worked and lived on what were then the lands of Topoli, “an hour’s walk from Varna, along the lake, by the railway line”. He writes about this in the second chapter of “Zapiski po balgarskite vastaniya” (“Notes on the Bulgarian Uprisings”).
11. The mayor who danced with sabres
Vladimir Malakhiev arrived from Russia aged 18. He won the respect of the Old Believers with a Cossack sabre dance by the lake and was mayor from 1944 to 1966. Since 2023 the village square has borne his name.
12. Electricity in 1950, water in 1956
Kazashko was connected to electricity in 1950 and received drinking water in 1956.
13. General Tolbukhin in Kazashko
According to local memories, in the winter of 1944/45 the village treated and fed a whole trainload of wounded Soviet soldiers. It is said that General Tolbukhin prayed in the Cossack church. The small window through which he looked is now in the village museum.
14. Mixed marriages begin in 1949
Until then the community was closed. The Cossack Karney Grigorov brought home the first Bulgarian bride, Zhivka. Today Kazashko is a mixed village where both Old Believer and Orthodox holidays are celebrated.
15. Two Lipovans retrace their ancestors’ route
In June 2021 two Lipovans from Romania sailed for 5 days and more than 250 km in a small boat from Sarichioi to Kazashko. In doing so, they retraced the route of the founders.
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Frequently asked questions
Has Lake Varna ever frozen?
Yes, in 1907, 1932, 1942, 1954 and 1962. In the hardest frost the ice was 30 cm thick.
What were the bells of the church in Kazashko cast from?
According to local tradition, from bronze cartridge cases collected by men from the village who hunted dolphins in the 20th century.
Published: 27 September 2026