Village Criva, Briceni district

  Village Criva borders v. Drepcauti (Moldova), v. Mamaliga (Ukraine), v. Podvirnoe (Ukraine), village Cozlau ( Romania ). Criva has a population of 1568 inhabitants, among whom 858 women, 710 men, 291children, 522 pensioners, 170 youth (between the age of 18 and 35), 272 employed.

  The ethnic composition of the inhabitants is the following: 1523Moldovans, 12 Russians, 31Ukrainians, 2 of other minorities.

  History of the village: the village Criva was attested for the first time in a document belonging to the ruler Stefanita –Voda and is kept in the archives in Bucharest .  There are two versions of the village’s foundation. It is affirmed that the village was created on the day when 5 families descending from the Carpathians came to the village Criva. Another legend tells that the first lady landowner, named Pantazi, came from Moldova beyond the Prut .  She gets lands at Nouasulita, Tabani and Criva. The lady was lame. People from Podolia and Galicia came to these parts rather often. Being Ukrainians they used to ask each other „Cuda bratoc do roboti? (Where is it possible to find work?), and the other answered “Do pani crivoi” (i.e. at the lame lady). In this way the name of Criva (i.e. lame) remained to last.

  Speaking about the past of the village, we could characterize it with the words of the veterans: This village was situated in the Prut valley. The Prut was whirling the stones of the 6 water mills like in a dance. In the 1800s there were about 50 families in Criva. Cholera broke in the village Criva in 1831. For the whole summer, all the villagers lived in a cellar at a distance of 2 km and returned only when the disease disappeared. The Church St Archangel Mikhail was built in 1835 by the lady landowner Sumarocova. In 1878, a one class school was opened within the church. By the year 1911, 71 boys and 8 girls were studying in this school. In 1892 there were 73 houses in the village, in which 693 men and 633 women lived. In 1900 there were 216 households, while in 1911- 233 households in Criva. The number of inhabitants was of 1707. Italian specialists built the railway in 1892, which connected the village with Ocnita and Nouasulita. The main cultivated agricultural grains were corn, wheat, barley, maize, buckwheat, beans, potatoes, grapes, water-melons, etc.

Hemp was a technical culture that was cultivated. Almost 50 % of the framers were carters. Salt was brought from Odessa by bull-pulled carts, while from Lipcani it was transported in all the directions. The first oil mill was brought in the village by the farmer Nituleac Patrache in the 1880s. Our farmers used to take up apiculture since the oldest times as well.

After World War II a shepherd found an unusual stone, while tending the sheep. He showed it to the scholars. In such a way significant minerals of gypsum (plaster stone) were discovered, which is excavated since 1954 to the present day.

In 1959, as a result of extensive excavation of gypsum, the entrance into one of the biggest caves of the world „Emil Racovita” was discovered, which unfortunately has remained unexplored.

After the war, two collective farms were created, which later united into one. The village economy has developed in two directions: industry (excavation of gypsum) and agriculture.

 If we could draw a line between the present and the past, we could state that at the moment the village has the same population as at the beginning of the century. Agriculture and cattle breeding is an important source of existence for many villagers. The negative side is that all the traditions and customs inherited from our ancestors are being lost little by little.