site.btaVice President Iotova Named Honorary Resident of Dudestii Vechi

Vice President Iliana Iotova has been named an honorary resident of Dudestii Vechi (Star Bisnov), Romania, during a meeting of the Municipal Council, presided over by Mayor Bono Cucalan. Earlier on Monday, Iotova opened the school year at the St. Cyril and St. Methodius Theoretical Lyceum, a school founded 280 years ago by Bulgarian settlers and in continuous operation ever since. 

In August 2013, football legend Hristo Stoitchkov was named an honorary resident of Dudestii Vechi during the opening of a local stadium that bears his name in recognition of his achievements in sports and patriotism. The stadium remains the only one in the world named after Stoitchkov. Its inauguration was a remarkable event for both the Banat Bulgarian community and Romania as a whole, as it was the first time a Romanian sports facility had been named after a foreign celebrity.

Other honorary reisdents of Dudestii Vechi include Nikola Mirkovic, a former representative of the Bulgarian minority in the Romanian Parliament, and Father Yani Vasilchin, a spiritual leader and author of numerous books on Banat Bulgarians.

The Catholic Bulgarians of Banat are the oldest Bulgarian diaspora in Romania, having settled in the region in 1738 following the suppression of the Chiprovtsi Uprising. According to the 2021 census, Dudestii Vechi has a population of 3,827, of whom 1,631 identify as ethnic Bulgarians, making up nearly 43% of the local population.