Historically, it has been an important part of the marble trade, and is notable for its long history of shifting Pomak Muslim and Christian village populations and tensions.

This meant that many of the original animals and plants that were driven out in order to make the land fully arable could now begin to restore their presence.

Species that are widely spread throughout Bulgaria are predominant here:[6] these include hedgehogs (Erinaceus concolor), moles (Talpa europaea), blind mole-rats (Nannospalax leucodon), Eurasian red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), striped field mice (Apodemus agrarius), common voles (Microtus arvalis), wild rabbits (Lepus capensis), hamsters (Spermophilus citellus), wildcats (Felis sylvestris), foxes (Vulpes vulpes), beech martens (Martes foina), badgers (Meles meles), weasels (Mustela nivalis), otters (Lutra lutra), polecats (Mustela putorius), jackals (Canis aureus), wild boar (Sus scrofa) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus).

Some of these typically inhabit the fields – partridge (Perdix perdix), quail (Coturnix coturnix), field-lark (Alauda arvensis), yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava), grey rook (Corvus corone), blue crow (Coracias garrulus), bee-eater (Merops apiaster),[6] others inhabitants of the forests – nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), wood-lark (Lullula arborea), garden warbler (Sylvia atricapilla), long-eared owl (Asio otus), tawny owl (Strix aluco).

[6] These include, but are not limited to, black stork (Ciconia nigra), pygmy cormorant (Microcarbo pygmeus), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), Levant sparrowhawk (Accipiter brevipes) and the lesser spotted eagle (Aquila pomarina).

The area is home to a rich variety of flora, as many plant species are distributed on the limestone terrain of Petrevene's region within Bulgaria.

The Mramornitza District included the present day localities: Bărkach, Karlukovo, Krushovitza, Lepitza, Lukovit, Petrevene, Petarnitza, Oreshene, Reseletz, Ruptzi, Sadovetz, Suhache, Todorichene, Cherven Bryag, Chomakovtzi, etc.

[10] In Petrevene, the first Pomaks were two people who converted to Islam in 1545 and were given the Arabic names Isa (Bulgarian: Isus) and Abdi, sons of Abdullahwhich.

It is quite possible also that the word comes from the dialect expressions "помáкан, омáкан, омáчен, помáчен" (pomákan, omákan, omáchen, pomáchen) in the sense of 'provided by an estate or farmland', 'farmer', provided by a guaranteed мáка, an old dialect North Bulgarian word for 'property, ownership, farm, estate',[11] unlike the Bulgarian Christians, who, before the Tanzimat reforms in 1839 did not have a guaranteed мáка.

In 1690s the troops of another Crimean-Tatar khan, Selim Giray, which were included in the vanguard of the Ottoman army in its war against Austro-Hungary, also passed through the region on their way from Romania to Sofia via Pleven, Lovech, Yablanitza and Etropole.

The non-canonical Christian heresies (such as Paulicianism and Bogomilism) survived in the region of Petrevene until the end of the 17th century, when dramatic religious events occurred.

One part of the Bulgarian Christian heretics converted reluctantly to Eastern Orthodoxy, which they had until then opposed and hated, and were incorporated into the Bulgarian-Christian community.

Pomaks in the region became those of Bulgarian Christian heretics, for which it was unacceptable or impossible to convert to Eastern Orthodoxy because of dogmatic, economic, family or other reasons.

At that time the Karlukovo monastery dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos[14][15] was in the eparchy of St. Sofroniy Vrachanski, the well-known Bulgarian Archbishop of Vratza, under the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In 1820 the head of the Karlukovo monastery, Kalinik, warned some of the local Pomaks to respect the Christian part of the population since the Russians would come someday.

On Christmas of 1871, the Bulgarian national hero and revolutionary Vasil Levski passed through the region on his way from Glozhene and Zlatna Panega to Cherven Bryag and Telish during his second trip through Bulgaria.

The removal of the Ottoman rule in 1878 brought a mass migration to Petrevene of Eastern Orthodox Bulgarians from upper Balkan villages such as Brusen and Vidrare with its hamlets including Smolevica and Kraeva Bachiya.

The Tonovski, Gergovski, Tzanovski, Stoevski, Velevski, Moldovanete, Dilovski, and Nedkovski families were among the first in Petrevene after the removal of Ottoman rule.

[3] The first mayor of Petrevene after the removal of the Ottoman rule was Tono Benchev Bakov (Peykin) of Vidrare, born in the hamlet of Smolevica.

The membership of the Cooperative Bank has reached 923 people from Petrevene, the surrounding villages of Rumyancevo (former Blăsnichevo), Zlatna Panega, Todorichene, Belentzi, Karlukovo, Dăben, Oreshene, and also from other places like Sofia and Plovdiv.

The Cooperative winery also processed the grapes from the surrounding villages of Todorichene, Belenci and Karlukovo, and has exported its wine even to Germany.

In 1948, during the communist rule in Bulgaria, a compulsory collectivization of the farmlands was imposed[30] and a Collective Farm, TKZS (Bulgarian: ТКЗС) was established with Ivan Lakov as its first chairman.

Their arrival extended the functioning of the school, which had experienced a decline in enrollment at the time as more inhabitants left Petrevene for urban areas.

As a result, many farm fields and vineyards that had previously dominated the landscape became abandoned and uncultivated, and the village's population shrank rapidly.

Additionally due to the economic crisis that followed [33] and very low state pensions, many owners were unable to afford the upkeep of their homes and many houses fell into disrepair.

There have also been several commercial developments spurred by a competent administration, including the establishment of a new bakery, Lazarov Commers,[36] and a motorbike rally.

As a result, the drainage canal and the river tributary Dulǎt was widened, dredged and in more central areas covered over in concrete blocks to protect from erosion and to ease future floods.

[38] After Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007, some villagers were able to benefit from the SAPARD program for agricultural and rural development, and as of April 2009 some parts of the TKZS have been restored to working order.

[2] The legend, according to the local people, is that several bad harvests had impelled the Petrevenians to place claims on lands of Todorichene.

With no market for them, however, the younger men of the village decided to collect all the watermelons and store them in the schoolhouse and let anyone eat as much as they wanted for free, on the condition that they would first see caricaturist Nicola Velev's exhibition in the library.