History:
The village of Obidim was founded at the beginning of 14th century. Initially, it was formed of a lot of hamlets, several kilometres away from each other. Stock-breeding was the major means of living, and in the winter, people moved with their cattle to Western Thrace (by the valley of Mesta River and Struma River, and mostly in the Southern part of the Rhodopes).
Obidim starts to turn into a big village at the beginning of 18th century; the hamlets gradually disappear and house owners find a better life in the area where the village is currently situated.
In 1901, the voyvode Ivan Apostolov founded a revolutionary committee in the two adjacent villages of Obidim and Kremen, with the participation of Atanas Radonov, Georgi K. Pandev, Hristo (Rizo) K. Pandev, Dimitar K. Pandev, Georgi T. Yusev, Georgi G. Moskov, Angel Dimitrov Pavlov, Grigor S. Karakov, Kostadin I. Pandev, Georgi S. Prachkov, Yanush Hidzhov, Nikola Karadzhov, Georgi Daskalov, Kosta Daskalov, Georgi Ushtavaliev, Rizo S. Radulov (Kalinkov), Gligor Dzharov, Krastyo Paklarski, Ivan Dakov.
Two months before the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising, 200 residents of Kremen and Obidim were called by Yane Sandanski to take part in a military training in the Izvoreto area. Two revolutionary groups were formed, with Blago Dzhudanov and Georgi Moskov, residents of Kremen, as their commanders; pursued by the authorities, they were forced to become illegal and become part of the revolutionary group of Koparan Chaush.
During the Uprising, on 13th / 14th September 1903, a battle was fought near Obidim between the united revolutionary groups of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization and the Ottoman forces.
The revolutionary group of the Supreme Committee that arrived, commanded by lieutenant Lyubomir Stoenchev, part of which was the resident of Kremen Ivan F. Radulov helped to the Bulgarian population that had escaped in the mountains to go to Bulgaria. The population was organized in two groups – one made only of residents of Kremen, and the other one - of residents of Obidim; after a long passage they crossed the border at Aygidik.
In 1908-1909 there were 220 houses of Bulgarians in the village and the population amounted to 1050 people.
The village was set into fire twice – in 1903 and in 1912. A great part of the population moved to Bulgaria – mainly in Chepino (which nowadays is a quarter of Velingrad). Shortly after the withdrawal of the Turkish military forces, part of the population returned. The village began its progress, building a lot of new houses. The population took an active part in the social and political life – it participated actively in the wars between 1912 and 1918, which a lot of people fell victims to.
Famous local people:
Dimitar Seizov – a Bulgarian revolutionary, voyvode in the area of Nevrokop and Melnik, who died in the Macedonian Committee campaign in June, 1895 near the village of Dobrinishte.
Dimitar Penkov (1876 - 1925), a Bulgarian revolutionary
Ivan Kyulev (1872 - 1956), specialist in Bulgarian folklore
Interesting facts:
On the territory of the village, there are a total of 13 churches, chapels, iconostases and one monastery. The ‘Saint Nicholas – the Miracle-Maker’ Church was built in 1842 and consecrated in 1843. The building itself is 23 meters long, 13 meters wide and 8 meters high. In the woods near the village, the ‘Saint Panteleimon’ Monastery is located.
As a result of the tradition established in the 1970s, every five years there is a gathering held at Machishta Polyana, 2 km away from the village. Family meetings are held each year by a great part of the heirs of the people from Obidim, living all over the country.
Statistics:
Territory: 64 962 square meters
Height above sea level: 1200 m
Postal code: 2776
Phone code: 074408
