Ura Gora is an eco-community made up of 4 families who are currently living in the south of Bulgaria, just several kilometres from the border with Turkey. The ten inhabitants live there by way of Anastasia, the heroine of the book series Ringing Cedars of Russiad by the Russian author Vladimir Mergre.
Of Siberian origin, Anastasia is a woman that Vladimir would meet through listening to the messages of nature and the cosmos which are transmitted by the cedars trees that ring through the forest.
In the eight volumes of the series, Vladimir revels in the rituals of Anastasia, those of which lead him to live a life of well-being, including access to love and to the joy of a life of simplicity, being at one with nature.
An inspiration for life in a community
Although Anastasia lives alone in the taiga, without access to the modern world, Ura Gora wishes to develop its way of living on the scale of a community with more than 100 families. It wishes to do so by using democratic principles of sociocracy, permaculture and dragon dreaming.
“The biggest change that we had to make is passing from consumption to production, even on a small scale and in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this, there would be enough for the entire world.” Bill Mollison, Australian co-founder of permaculture.
For 10 years, each family has managed a plot of land of about 1.5 hectares which has allowed them to construct their own house and garden which are completely immerged in the green background of the mountains with more than 500 species of trees.
In the tradition of Anastasia, it is important that each family maintains a special connection with their terrain and the biodiversity that surrounds it by paying close attention to their garden and by growing their own plants and fruit trees, to give an example.
Equally, the families of Ura Gora mix these techniques by using apiculture and thus, they produce their own honey as well.
Looking to the future, Ura Gora wishes to expand and develop its workshops of permaculture and non-violent communication by creating an education centre for children where they can learn of our connection to nature.
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