Zverino Vill

Remains of Thracian and late Roman settlements have been found in its vicinity, which have not been studied. The present-day village was founded on the ruins of a large medieval settlement. In the Slogo area, which is located in the northwestern part of the Old Village, a medieval necropolis with Christian burials and jewelry from the 12th to 14th centuries was discovered. Earrings, bracelets and rings made of bronze and silver were found with the skeletons. North of the village, in the Dzhurilova Glava area, are the ruins of a large medieval fortress, which probably guarded the road from Vratsa to Sofia, which ran along the Zlatitsa River. Ruined walls have been preserved from this fortress, and ceramics typical of the period from the 12th to the 14th centuries are also found. The first mention of the village is in an Ottoman document from 1430, where it is recorded as the village of Izverine, and in another slightly later document it is stated that there were 11 households. In Turkish notarial documents issued by the Vratsa District Court, the name of the village can be read as Zerine, Zerina, Zarine, Zarina or Zarino.

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  In Vasil Mikov's book "Origin and Meaning of the Names of Towns and Villages in Bulgaria" it is said that the origin of the village's population originates from the fortress Zarenitsa (Zaryanitsa) - near today's Asenovgrad - southeast of the village of Pavelsko. The population of this fortress and the disappeared villages: Osikovo, Elise, due to the cruelty of the Turkish invaders, was forced to leave their native settlements and moved, forming the Vratsa villages of Zverino, Osikovo and Eliseina. Another legend tells that many years passed since the settlement of the region in a peaceful and quiet life. The inhabitants of this land increased and built a church. But bad weather set in. Turkish gangs began to roam the enslaved Bulgarian lands. The population was forced to defend themselves from these encroachments. A Turkish gang attacked the village and wanted to kidnap the most beautiful girl. Several young men grabbed her and fled with her, crossing the Iskar River. The Turks came down after them, a fight broke out, in which the villagers took the Turks' weapons, threw them into the Iskar River and beat them. The disarmed Turks returned to the remaining robbers and told them what had happened. Enraged, the chieftain ordered them to plunder the village. A large part of the people managed to escape, while another part - mainly children, women and old people - hid in the church - a stronger building, and also a holy place, where they assumed that the Turks would not attack them. However, this only angered the attackers and, unable to get inside, they set the building on fire. The people were burned to death by the fiery element. Since then, the place has been called "Roasted Church". The village was abandoned by the local population after the cruel massacre by the Turks. The people crossed the Iskar River on the left bank, divided into clans, and settled in places further from roads and more inaccessible. The Turkish authorities could not collect taxes and use forced labor from this population that had fled and scattered across the mountains. Therefore, they forcibly forced the people to come down from the sheepfolds and settle down on the bank of the Iskar River at the mouth of the tributary Zlatitsa River. There is another popular legend about the name "Zverino". A plague broke out among the residents of the area - to save themselves from it, they left the village en masse and fled to the Danube. Only one person remained in Glogov Dol. This man was called Neno. He always walked unshaven, dirty and ragged. When the disease passed, the population that had fled returned and when they saw Neno so dirty and bearded, they said that Neno had become like a beast. Since then, the village has acquired the name Zver-Neno, from there – Zverneno.
  The name of the village of Zverino can also be connected with the word “zvern”, which means a place reserved for hunting by prominent figures, a place for hunting by the king and his entourage in the Middle Ages. During the Turkish period, and for a long time after that, there was no bridge over the Iskar River to connect the “Odanat” neighborhood and the estates beyond the Iskar River. The transportation of people, livestock, agricultural products and others was done with the so-called “lagya” (boat). The “lagya” was moved with long poles, called dredges, which were used when the water was lower, and when the water was higher and rougher, they used wooden shovels, rowed by 3-4 people. In more recent times, the "lagya" is attached to a stretched steel rope with pulleys, which is easier to move and there is no danger of being swept away by the current. A massive bridge across the Iskar River was built only in 1921.