Avdarma

Near the river of the same name flows about 20 km long - the right tributary of the Lunga river, the left tributary of the Yalpug river ^[2] . It is located in a single valley 18 km south-east of the city of Comrat and 123 km south of Chisinau. It has existed since the 16th century (1563).

It bears the Turkic name ^[3] . For the first time the village of Avdarma is mentioned in archival documents in 1563 . In honor of this, a stele was erected in the center of the village, where the date of the foundation of the village is written and the settlements where the first residents moved from are indicated. The Russian historian A. Skalkovsky in 1848 in his book “Bulgarian Colonies in Bessarabia and the Novorossiysk Territory” writes that the toponym Avdarma means “Bandit Gorge”. The scientist notes that “the inhabitants are good owners ... The wooden church 1; houses 86; 93 families, out of 515 shower; land of 5700 acres ” .

In the “Dictionary of Gagauzian Geographical Terms” by I. Dron, it is noted that the toponym Avdarma “is of Nogai origin and apparently originally only referred to the valley along which the river flows” . According to popular legends, confirmed by archival documents, Avdarma was formed by immigrants who initially settled in the village of Orac (now Leov region of the Republic of Moldova) during the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791. In 1820, 54 families lived in the village of Avdarma, who moved from the villages: Gorichane and Bezhanovo (Bulgaria), Orak (Moldova, Leovsky district).

The Gagauz enlightener Mikhail Chakir wrote in the book “The History of the Gagauz of Bessarabia” in 1934 that he kept a letter from the village of Avdarma Nikolai Kasym, which was given to the Gagauz by the boyar Balsh, whose estate also included the village of Orak: “The Orac Gagauzians are honest, truthful, media artisans, good-natured, hospitable, travelers are greeted as relatives, hardworking, peace-loving, kind, beware of drunkenness, scandals, all evil. In the villages of Orak and Chadyr among the Gagauz there was neither theft, nor robbery, nor fraud . ”

Initially, the village was located on the tract Lunga, where the river Lunga flows. At that time, the Bujak Tatars lived on this earth. They were engaged in cattle breeding, so they chose this land for settled life. Today, this area is called Yozokai. And today there is a spring on this site, which is called “Tatar Cheshmesi” (“Tatar Spring”). It has two sources: cold water flows from one, and slightly warm from the other. It can be seen that they are united by clay pipes. Old-timers say that the Tatars hid gold after the Russo-Turkish war, allegedly hoping to someday return after them. No one found gold, but in the 70s of the XX century. people found smoking pipes, clay shards there. Opposite the Tatar spring there is a hill, on top of which grows a large thick pear tree, on which lies the imprint of the past. Old-timers said that this tree is visible from the village of Gypsy, which is located near the Prut River. This tree is listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Moldova in 2003 and is protected by law. Residents of the village of Avdarma participated in the Crimean War of 1853-1856, among them: Jordan Prizhilyan, Georgy Kazmaly, Nikola Tumba, Ilya Kurdoglu, Todor Tsyrlak, Rus Kozhuhar, Panait Kazmaly (died), Mikhail Kiritsa (died).

They took part in the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905, among them: V. Tumba, F. Gargalyk and others. During the First World War 1914-1918. more than 200 people were called to the front, some of them later participated in revolutionary events, in the Civil War. One of them was Ivan Sarandi. Fyodor Trandafilov was a sailor on the cruiser Aurora in 1917. During the Romanian period of 1918-1940. teacher Vladimir Kasym was an associate of the Gagauz enlightener Mikhail Chakir. Vladimir Kasym led the Gagauz delegation from Budzhak, which arrived in Chisinau on November 8, 1931 for the 50th anniversary of the pastoral and educational activities of Fr. Michael Chakira. In the Romanian period, the mayor of the village was Dmitry Karamit, Popaz Georgy, Kazmaly Ivanna worked as teachers. In 1940, Soviet power was established in Bessarabia, including in the village of Avdarma. The inhabitants of Avdarma participated in the Great Patriotic War: D. Gargalyk, P. Gargalyk, N. Manastyrly, P. Sarandi, S. Zlatov, A. Avramov, L. Avramova, G. Gargalyk, E. Davydova (Kapsomun), D. Tarlev. During the hunger strike of 1946-1947, more than 700 people died.

On November 21, 2011, a historical museum of local lore was opened in the village. The idea of ​​creating the museum belongs to Yazadzhi Fedor Vasilievich.

• Official site of the village of Avdarma
• Avdarma.com - site about the village of Avdarma and its inhabitants - Gagauz
• News about the connection to the main gas pipeline of the village of Avdarma
• “A village where everyone is“ ours ””
• “On the pulse of the life of autonomy: Avdarma”