HISTORIC BULGARIA
Veliko Turnovo Arbanasi
Shoumen
Madara
Pliska
Preslav
Kotel
Zheravna
Razgrad
VELIKO TURNOVO (Велико Търново)
Veliko Turnovo is arguably the most picturesque town in Bulgaria built above a long, winding gorge cut out by the river Yantra into the surrounding massif. It also has a uniquely significant place in Bulgarian history, its presence resonating down the ages from 1185 as the town from which the boyars Petur and Asen began their revolt against Byzantium, and as the new capital of the Second Kingdom. After independence in 1876, the first government chose Turnovo as the place in which to draft the country`s new constitution, conscious of the symbolism of launching the new Bulgaria from the town which had been the cradle of the medieval kingdom. This breadth of history is amply illustrated by the four hills on which the town is built, the ruins of the boyars quarter on Trapezitsa hill to the north, the preserved and restored heart of the old walled, medieval capital on Tsaravets to the east, the modern University on Sveta Gora to the south and stretching westwards from the walls of the gorge as it describes a sharp and dramatic U-shape around an eastern promontory of Sveta Gora, the National Revival and modern town.
A LITTLE HISTORY...
1300 BC - Thracian tribes establish the first settlement on Tsaravets hill.
1st century AD - The Romans conquer the area and later build a fortress on Momina Krepost hill (east of Tsarevets).
5th century AD - The Byzantine Emperor Anastasius fortifies the settlement on Tsarevets.
813 - The Bulgarian Khan Kroum rebuilds the town, of which little now remains, on or around Tsarevets, giving it the name Turnovo, derived from the Bulgarian `trun` - thorn.
1185 - The brothers Asen and Petur lead a successful uprising against Byzantium. They declare Bulgaria an independent kingdom in that year at the consecration of the Church of St. Dimitur and make Turnovo its capital. To further bolster the legitimacy of the new kingdom, their successor, Tsar Ioan Asen has the relics of St. Ioan of Rila, the founder of Rila Monastery and one of the great religious figures of the First Kingdom brought to Turnovo.
1197 - Asen and Peturs` younger brother, Tsar Kaloyan assumes power and in 1205 defeats an army of the Latin Emperor, Baldwin of Flanders, who was imprisoned and died in the Baldwin tower.
1331-1371 - The `Silver Age` of Bulgarian culture in the reign of Tsar Ivan Alexandur. Theodosius of Turnovo founds Kilifarevo Monastery and Patriarch Evtimius , the Turnovo Literary School.
1393 - The Turks capture Turnovo after a three month siege and destroy the town.
15th -19th C. - The era of Ottoman domination, marked by periodic rebellions against the Turks.
1867 - Turnovo expels the Greek metropolitan bishop Gregory and establishes an independent Bulgarian exarchate.
1877 - The Russian army, commanded by General Gurko, liberates Turnovo.
1879 - The first constituent assembly of the new state sits in Turnovo and Prince Alexandur of Battenberg is proclaimed its head .
1887 - Prince Alexandur is deposed and the Great National Assembly at Turnovo replaces him with Prince Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg
1908 - Ferdinand is declared King of an independent Bulgaria.
1966 - Turnovo is renamed Veliko Turnovo - `Great Turnovo`.
THE NATIONAL REVIVAL TOWN
From the shopping centre of the modern town, Blvd. Hristo Botev leads downhill past the war memorial and the Post Office. Further down, Ul. Hadzhi Dimitur takes you down to the gorge of the Yantra River and the little streets that perch on its walls. At the bottom of Ul. Hadzhi Dimitur, straight on the narrow Ul. General Gurko, overlooked by the wooden balconies and verandas of its mostly Ottoman houses, leads to the heart of the National Revival town along the gorge walls and, along the way, the museum-house of Dimo Sarafina, an 18th century moneylender. Looking as if it only has two-stories from the street-side, this splendid house, with its ornate panelled ceilings, actually has another three overlooking the river.
Back at the start of General Gurko, a left turn leads down to the imposing bulk of the socialist era Interhotel and beyond to a pedestrian bridge across the River Yantra to the Buruna promontory, the western end of Sveta Gora park. On this part of the promontory is a modernistic monument to the Second Kingdom Asen dynasty of Tsars and behind it the Art Gallery with a permanent exhibition `Veliko Turnovo through the eyes of the artist`, a display of paintings, drawings, cartoons and sculpture by Bulgarian artists. Paths through the woods over Sveta Gora hill take you to the modern Kiril and Metodi University and its accompanying suburb of 19th and early 20th century houses. Beside the university, a bronze-cast sculpture of Patriarch Evtimius overlooks the gorge.
Back at the Post Office, Vasil Levski becomes Nazavismost a pretty little shopping street with on the right some cafes and sladkarnitsas giving panoramic views of the gorge from their tables. On the left at the top of the street is a monument to rebels hanged after the April Uprising of 1876 and beyond that a turning left into Pl. Petko Slaveikov. To the west of the square Mendikarska leads to the museum-house of Petko Slaveikov, the 19th century poet, politician and journalist who did much to shape the new Bulgaria.
Off the square, little streets lead uphill to the Varosha Quarter, whose old houses and narrow, cobbled streets cling seemingly precariously to the hillside, and the charming little 1861 church of Ss. Kiril and Methodius with a belfry and dome by the architect Nikola Fichev. At the western end of Pl. Slaveikov is one of Turnovo`s more idiosyncratic houses, the House with the Monkey, named after the statue on the balcony. A few steps further along is Hadzhi Nikoli Minchev`s Inn (open every day), also the Ethnographic Museum allowing you to see the intricately carved inside of a typical 19th century house. Outside the inn, the road divides, the downhill section (Stephan Stambolov) going further into the old town and the uphill section leading to the old craft quarter, Samovodska Market, a picturesque street of wood-carvers, jewellery makers and other craftspeople.
Downhill, Stefan Stambolov joins Pl. Velchova Zavera, literally translated as `the Square of Velcho`s Plot`, named after a glassblower who, along with others, was hanged after an unsuccessful uprising against the Turks in 1835 and whose monument is in the centre of the square. Downhill again, Ivan Vazov takes you to the heart of the National Revival town, Pl. Saidinenie, the old adminstrative centre of the town. The building that draws the eye on the south side of the square is the National Assembly; formerly the Konak built by Nikola Fichev in 1872 and now the National Revival Museum (open every day). There are several displays detailing successive rebellions against the Turks, an exhibition of icons and religious objects, another of metalwork from the Turnovo region and the timber-beamed National Assembly chamber itself. To the right of the Assembly building is a Museum of the Second Kingdom, an archaeological museum with artefacts from medieval Turnovo and behind this complex a courtyard with the old Prison, the Bey`s residence and an Archtectural Museum. Above the square is the 1844 Cathedral Church of the Holy Virgin.Kingdom, an archeological museum with artefacts from medieval Turnovo and behind this complex a courtyard with the old Prison, the Bey`s residence and an Archtectural Museum. Above the square is the 1844 Cathedral Church of the Holy Virgin.
From the square two streets lead down to Pl. Tsar Asen I and the approach to Tsaravets, overlooked by two old Mosques. On the square itself with an 18th century clock tower, the Sarashka Mosque, and to the south the Kourshoumli Mosque, now an Orthodox Seminary. In the summer, audiences can watch an impressive `Son et Lumiere` starting at 9 pm every night from here, telling the story of Tsaravets in music and song illustrated by a lighting show on the hill itself.
THE MEDIEVAL TOWN
Medieval Turnovo was divided into three parts:-
1) The Inner Town on Tsaravets and Trapezitsa hills, the heavily fortified residential areas of the boyars and the high clergy.
2) The Outer Town protected by an earthwork and consisting of the Asenova Mahala district where the merchants and lower clergy lived.
3) Frenkhisar, the quarter given over to foreign merchants, and the districts outside the earthwork at the foot of Momina Krepost hill where the poorer people lived.
Approaching Tsaravets over a long stone causeway defended by a gatehouse and a drawbridge, the extent of the fortifications and the size and grandeur of the fortress are immediately apparent even now 500 years after its destruction. Adjoining the causeway is the main fortress gate from where the fortress walls stretch to the other two gatehouses, the Asenova Mahala gate on the left and Baldwin`s Tower and the Frenkhisar Gate on the right. From the main gate a steep footpath leads to the top of the hill, with conveniently, on a little plateau halfway up, a cafe for those not inclined to make the whole ascent in one go. From the plateau a path leads to the left to Baldwin`s Tower and the Frenkhisar gate. Below the tower can be seen the area that was the Frenkhisar quarter, of which nothing now remains, but which was an immensely rich settlement peopled by merchants from all over Europe, the Middle East and Russia. Beside and behind the tower are the remains of a monastery and just beyond that the point where Turkish troops first broke into the fortress in 1393.
At the summit of the hill is the Patriarchal Church of the Ascension, rebuilt and controversially decorated with modern frescoes commissioned by Ludmilla Zhivkova, Todor Zhivkov`s daughter and Minister of Culture. The original richly ornate church was destroyed by the Turks in 1435, who subsequently built a mosque on the site. From the church can be seen the extent of the monastic foundations beyond the Asenova Mahala gate. A footpath leads downhill behind the church to the remains of the Royal Palace. From archeological excavations it has become clear that the palace was reconstructed, repaired and enlarged many times. Protected by six-foot thick walls and towers, it contained living quarters, reception rooms, watch-houses, store-rooms and wine-cellars. A footpath leads downhill behind the church to the remains of the Royal Palace.
The centrepiece of the palace was its throne room, measuring 105 ft. by 50 ft. (32m by 16m) divided into three aisles by two lines of pillars, some of them brought from the nearby Roman town of Nicopolis ad Istrum, and richly decorated with frescoes and mosaics depicting the rulers of the three dynasties. Next to the throne room was the Royal Chapel of St. Paraskeva.
Beyond the palace were the residences of the more important boyars and beyond that again at the edge of the plateau, Lobanata Skala, the execution rock, much used during the late 13th and early 14th centuries by the Terterid Dynasty, who executed their opponents, in particular, Ivailo the Swineherd (see History) and even Patriarch Joachim (accused of helping the Tartars to seize Turnovo) by throwing them off the rock.
The Asenova Mahala district is east of Tsaravets on the banks of the Yantra, reached by walking along the main road from the main fortress gate. Much damaged by an earthquake in 1913, this was the artisans` and tradesmen’s` quarter, described by Gregor Tsamblak, a 14th century chronicler, as being lined with numerous shops. Several important churches have been repaired in this district, the most historically important of which, the 11th century Church of the Forty Martyrs (occasionally closed for restoration), is beside the main road. Dedicated in 1230 by Tsar Ivan Asen II to commemorate a victory over Theodore Comnenus, Despot of Epirus, at Klokotnitsa, it was used as the family tomb of the Asen Dynasty and one of the columns inside is inscribed, as was the custom of Tsars at the time, with a record of Asen`s conquests. Two other columns are from the first kingdom capital, Pliska, one inscribed in Greek `the Fortress of Rodosto`, presumably a record of another conquest, and the second, Khan Omurtag`s pillar, bears a 9th century inscription, again in Greek, roughly translated as :-
`A man may live well but nevertheless one day has to die,
he will be remembered only for his good deeds.
Let he who reads this remember who made it,
Prince Omurtag, the Sublime Khan.`
The 13th century frescoes are greatly damaged, only part of a picture calendar remains, presumably during the Ottoman occupation when the Turks converted it into a mosque, in the process building on to it a minaret which subsequently collapsed, an occurrence viewed by the local Bulgarian population as divine intervention. Between the church and a bridge, on the riverbank are the remains of the Royal Monastery. Beyond the bridge the road continues past the 19th century Church of the Holy Virgin, standing on the sight of a monastery to which Tsar Ivan Alexandur sent his first wife when he decided to marry a Jewish Princess. Further on the road passes on the left an old Turkish bathhouse, the Shishmanova Baths, and leads to the 13th century church of Ss. Petur and Paul (now a museum). It was substantially damaged in the 1913 earthquake but still contains some remarkable frescoes of which the oldest is behind the altar and decorated pillars. The Turks executed 111 boyars in the church in 1393 and would have gone on to massacre the whole population of the town were it not for the pleas of Patriarch Evtimii, whose eloquence at the church saved the day. It was also the residence of the Greek-appointed Patriarch Gregory of the Bulgarian church whom the townspeople expelled in 1876.
Over the river in a modern suburb with some pleasant mehanas are two further churches, the southernmost, the 14th century St. George`s church, restored and painted in 1612 according to an inscription above the door, with some well-preserved frescoes. Further up is the charming Church of St. Dimitrius, the patron saint of medieval Turnovo who according to legend came from Salonika to help the Bulgarians. It was at the consecration of this church in 1185, which from the outside seems to be the archetypal Orthodox church in miniature with its intricate red brick patterns, blind arches and domed central tower, that the boyars Petur and Asen declared Bulgarian independence from Byzantium. Beyond the church a footpath leads to the left up to the summit of Trapezitsa, guarded by the ruins of a formidable looking tower. Not much remains of what must have been a rich and impressive quarter, the residence of the boyars and higher clergy, destroyed by the Turks. Excavations in 1900 uncovered the foundations of 17 chapels, some dating back to the 10th century and many large buildings. Another path leads to the summit from the Asenova Mahala road bridge.
GETTING THERE
By rail, from Sofia or Varna, trains stop at the Gorna Oryahovitsa halt from where nine trains a day or failing those regular buses go to Veliko Turnovo. From Burgas, travellers should alight at Dubovo halt from where four trains a day go to Veliko Turnovo. Turnovo being a major tourist destination, both public and private buses go from all the major centres.
ARBANASI (Арбанаси)
The village of Arbanasi, high on a plateau 3 kms or a short bus ride from Veliko Turnovo, is one of Bulgaria’s more unusual and picturesque villages. There is some dispute about its origins although it is known that the village in the 15th century was inhabited by Christian exiles from South Epirus and some historians give this as an explanation of its name - the village of the Albanians. Its inhabitants were merchant adventurers par excellence, they regularly drove large flocks of 3 or 4000 sheep to Instanbul in the autumn and traded leather, copper, gold and silverware with Russia, Western Europe and the near East. Such prosperity also attracted marauders, Turkish khurdzhali (outlaws) plundered the place regularly, accounting for the architecture of the village houses, which were in fact constructed as small fortresses.
Turnovo became increasingly important as a commercial centre towards the end of the eighteenth century, and about that time Arbanasi`s merchants began to move there to be replaced by newcomers from the mountains. There are five churches in Arbanasi, one for each of the five village neighbourhoods and each with the traditional divide between women’s and men’s sections. The finest is the Church of the Nativity (Rozhdestvo Hristovo - west of the square on the main road), the 17th century frescoes of which, notably a genealogy of Christ and a Greek-influenced fresco of Greek philosophers in the gallery, belie the plain brick exterior. There is a small chapel for the family of Hadzhi Georgou, the donor of the church. From the church a path leads past the 18th century Kokona Fountain, with its Arabic inscription `you who look upon me and drink the water shall possess the light of the eyes and the soul` to the House of Konstantliev. A fine example of a typical Arbanasi house, it is surrounded by a tall stone wall whose only entrance is a massive, nail-studded front door. The ground floor, used for storage is made of stone and the first floor, the living quarters, of wood with ornate panelled ceilings.
The Church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, near the village square, was built at the beginning of the 17th century but the frescoes in the mens` section were executed in the late 17th century and those in the women’s section in the early 18th by two masters from Thessalonika and Bucharest. A characteristic feature of Arbanasi churches are the decorated wooden beams, particularly in evidence here. This church was attended by Bulgarians of Wallachian origin and some of the lamps and other objects are inscribed with Bulgarian and Wallachian names. South of the square a path leads to another typically ornate Arbanasi house, the House of Hadzhi Iliev, also the town museum, next to the reconstructed Church of Sveti Dimitur.
Finally, a curiosity from Communist times, on a promontory overlooking Turnovo, Todor Zhivkov`s country villa is now the luxurious Arbanasi Palace Hotel. Even if you do not stay there it is instructive to look around what was only one of a string of residences built by Zhivkov at a time when sufficient living space for the ordinary citizen was decreed to be 3 square metres.
Shoumen (Шумен)
Shoumen, while being of considerable interest itself, is a good base from which to explore the ancient Bulgarian capitals of Preslav, Pliska and the impressive rock carvings at the village of Madara.
The medieval fortress (Stariyat Grad) on the high plateau above the town was fortified first by the Thracians, then by the Romans and ultimately by the Bulgarians in the eighth century to guard the road to Pliska. During the reign of Tsar Simeon, the fortress played an important role in his wars against invading Magyars, but it was destroyed by another invading Magyar in 1444, King Ladislaus III, this time in an attempt to defeat the Turks. Today the remains of the fortress are accessible about 2 kms west of the town through the forested park called Shoumensko Plateau. Also in the park approachable by steps from Boulevard Slavianski is the visually arresting 1300 Years of Bulgaria Memorial, erected in 1981 on Ilchov Bair hill.
Shoumen is bisected almost equally by its main street, Blvd. Slavianski off which in a park in the centre of town is the Museum of History, with exhibits from Pliska and Preslav and Thracian silverware, and the town Art Gallery. Across the Boulevard from the park is the impressive facade of the Vasil Droumev Theatre. Two blocks west of the theatre Ul. Laios Kosuth leads up to the Laios Kosuth House, a memorial house to the Hungarian revolutionary who lived here briefly in 1849. After an unsuccessful revolution in 1848, Hungarian and Polish revolutionaries fled Austria and were given asylum by Turkey. Some 2000 of them settled in Shoumen and brought with them a central European passion for culture, which with characteristic energy, they set about recreating. One immigrant, a Hungarian called Safrane, established Bulgaria’s first orchestra in Shoumen and the indigenous population quickly developed a taste for musical evenings, dramas, public balls and one other import, beer. The Shoumen brewery is Bulgaria’s oldest. Shoumen also became a centre of Bulgarian drama, the first Bulgarian play, a comedy by Sava Dobroplodni was premiered here as was one of Bulgaria’s classic dramas `Ivanko` by Vasil Droumev after whom the theatre was named.
Further down Ul. Tsar Osvoboditel is the Memorial House to one of Bulgaria`s greatest composers, Pancho Vladigerov, whose Vardar Fantasy is almost a second national anthem. Close by is another Memorial House to Dobri Voinikov, a National Revival author whose name is also given to the impressively facaded Dobri Voinikov Reading Club on Pl. Vuzrazhdanie. Ul. Tsar Osvobditel joins Ul. Hristo Botev at Pl. Oborishte where the Tourist Information Office is. Just off the square is the Bezisten a 16th century covered market. A little way down the pedestrianised Hristo Botev is the Tomboul Mosque, the largest in Bulgaria. Built in 1745 its impressive dome gives this erstwhile museum its name (Tomboul is Turkish for dome). Now in active use as a centre for the Muslims of north-east Bulgaria, entry may sometimes be restricted. Constructed by Sherif Pasha as both a religious and educational centre, the buildings in the courtyard once housed a primary school and a `medrese`. a religious college with an Arabic library of 50,000 books. Immediately south of the mosque is a Turkish clock tower built in 1740. The handmade clock has been working flawlessly for over a century.
MADARA (Мадара)
Some 10 kms. or a short train ride east of Shoumen is the Archaeological Reserve that contains the famous bas-relief known as the Madara Horseman. Steps lead up from the station to the much-weathered carving 23m (76ft) up on the rock face of a horseman holding the reins in his left hand, his right hand high in the air presumably having just thrown a spear at a nearby fallen lion. Behind the rider runs a hound. Above and below the relief are three inscriptions, the oldest (above) dating from 705-707 relating how the Bulgarian Khan Tervel helped the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II regain his throne. The second (below left) dates from the time of Khan Kormisosh (739-756) and the third (below right) from the time of Khan Omourtag (816-831) - both are illegible. There is some scholarly doubt about the origin and purpose of the relief, some say the figure is of Khan Tervel, others that it is of Thracian origin. Above the carving, accessible by a staircase cut into the rock is a 5th or 6th century fortress identified by some historians as Tsar Simeon`s Moundraga fortress built to guard the approaches to Pliska. To the right of the relief a path leads to the Large Cave, a natural shelter with excellent acoustics sometimes used for concerts in the Madara Music Days. In the 1st century BC the Thracians used it as a sanctuary dedicated to the three goddesses of nature. Votive plaques and Greek amphorae were found here, some of which are exhibited in the small museum by the complex entrance. Just beyond is the Small Cave, once inhabited by neolithic man who left behind flint and bone tools, fragments of pottery and amulets. Above the caves is a 12-14th century hermits` rock monastery. To the left of the Horseman are remains of a 13th century rock church, another 14th century church and a 12th century monastery built on earlier pagan structures, indicating that this has been an important religious site since pre-history. There are also the remains of a Roman villa nearby dating from the 2nd century AD.
PLISKA (Плиска)
The sleepy little village of Pliska (bus from Shoumen to Novi Pazar, change there for bus to Pliska) bears no resemblance to the glory of the capital of the first Bulgarian Kingdom from which it takes its name and whose ruins covering some 14 square miles (23 square kms.) lie 2 miles north-east of the present settlement. Established in 681 AD, and capital until 893 AD when Tsar Simeon made Preslav his new capital, it remained an important cultural centre until it was finally destroyed by the Turks in the 14th century. The Outer Town was protected by a ditch and an earthwork and was the habitation of the common people who lived in dugouts and also contained craftsmen’s` workshops, barracks of the Khan`s troops and stables. The 1 km square Inner Town, situated in the middle of the outer town, was protected by a thick stone outer wall with a drum tower on each corner and two pentagonal towers along each side. There were four gates protected by barbicans and portcullises. The khan`s residence, his bath house and some temples and churches were protected by another massive inner stone wall. The inner town was occupied by the boyars, their servants and guards. The best decorated building was the Small Palace, clearly the Khan`s residence and connected to the outside by three secret tunnels. The Large Palace was probably built by Khan Krum and destroyed by the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus when he seized Pliska in 811. Khan Omurtag rebuilt it on a smaller scale and used it as his throne room. The Large Basilica probably built by Tsar Boris I who adopted Christianity in Bulgaria, was erected in the outer town and at 110 yards (100m) long and 33 yards (30m) was the largest medieval Bulgarian church. The remains of a number of substantial buildings have been found next to the church and historians have speculated that these are the remains of the monastery to which Boris retired in his old age
PRESLAV (Преслав)
Preslav, some 15 kms. south of Shoumen and easily accessible by bus, was the capital of Bulgaria during Tsar Simeon`s Golden Age and the centre of Slav culture during a period of expansion of the Bulgarian empire. During its heyday it was estimated that Preslav was the most populous city in the Balkans, known for its schools of art and translation into the new alphabet - Cyrillic and its monasteries. It was sacked by Byzantine invaders in 971 but the massive inner walls were not destroyed and continued to be used as a boyar`s stronghold until the Turks destroyed it in 1388. The ruins of Veliki Preslav (Great Preslav), as it came to be known, lie scattered to the south of the modern town, signposted from the square. An archeological museum at the entrance to the site displays some artefacts (most have been moved to Shoumen) and plans of the site. As in Pliska, the city was divided into an inner and outer town, both protected by massive walls almost 3mtrs thick. The principal building in the Inner Town was the columnaded Royal Palace decorated with carved marble slabs, mosaic flooring, painted ceramic plaques and stained glass.
In the outer town the Round Church has a unique circular nave with 12 marble columns supporting a dome that was probably gilded (records also call it the Golden Church). It was richly decorated with ceramic plaques, mosaics carved cornices. The walls of the courtyard have semi-circular niches and columns.
KOTEL (Котел)
The well-preserved 19th century town of Kotel lies about 30 kms. south of Omurtag (midway between Veliko Turnovo and Shoumen on the E771) in a hollow in the Stara Planina.
Founded by refugees from Turkish harassment in the 16th century, a pleasing legend has it that they lost their horses one night when camped nearby and found them the next morning by a spring in a mountain hollow. They liked the spot so much they decided to settle there and gave it the name `kotlovina` meaning hollow. In the first few years, however young girls kept disappearing, a tragedy the villagers ascribed to dragons, well-known to live beside springs and be fond of young human females. They moved the village to a spot nearby and the disappearances stopped and hence, today, the springs, for which Kotel is famous, are in a park north of the centre. In the 18th and 19th centuries the town grew rich on sheep-breeding and the weaving of the distinctive, geometrically patterned carpets which are still made today. It was the birthplace of many eminent National Revival figures, among them Sofroni, who made the first hand-written copy of Paisi of Hilendar`s `Slavo-Bulgarian History` and the founder of the revolutionary movement, Georgi Rakovski.
The town suffered a disastrous fire in 1894 which destroyed many of the older houses leaving in what is today known as the star kvartal (old quarter) an impressive architectural reserve of 18th and 19th century wood-clad houses decorated with intricate wood carvings. The quarter is downhill from the main square around Ul. Isvorska where can be found the History Museum (Tue-Fri only) dedicated mostly to mementoes of Kotel`s most famous sons and uphill from that an Ethnographic Museum (Mon-Fri only).
One of the town’s bigger monuments is the Pantheon of Georgi Sava Rakovski (1821-1867), a revolutionary and Bulgarian educator. This and many of the displays in the museum celebrate the Kotel Awakening, the resurrection of Bulgarian language and culture that took place in the later years of Ottoman rule. The town also has two schools dedicated to folk arts, a school of folk music, the Philip Koutev Folk Arts School and a school of woodcarving both of which run courses open to visitors.
ZHERAVNA (Жеравна)
The museum village of Zheravna, 14 kms. south of Kotel (2 buses a day), has a similar history. Founded by refugees (the name means water-mill), it became an important sheep-breeding centre in the 18th century, some shepherds owning as many as 30,000 sheep, and thus also for the weaving of woollen garments and rugs, so much so that the Turks called it `Little Plovdiv`. The wealth this brought enabled its inhabitants to build the fine wooden houses with their characteristic round roof tops, wide eaves and stout wooden gates that, along with its mountain setting, are the village’s main attraction today. Many of the houses have been turned into museums, especially those of Sava Filaretov, Rousi Chorbadzhi and that of Zheravna`s most illustrious native, the short story writer, Yordan Yovkov.
RAZGRAD (Разград)
The little town of Razgrad is worth a visit to explore the Abritus project (on the south-eastern edge of the town) which, archaeology apart, epitomises the insecurity of life in early Bulgaria. Abritus was the name of a substantial Roman fort with four gates and 35 towers built by Emperor Constantine the Great in the 4th century. Sacked by the Goths and again by the Huns in the subsequent century and rebuilt each time, it was finally destroyed by the Slavs in the late 5th century. Rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor Justinian in the mid-6th century, it was destroyed again by Slavs late in the century. The site remained in ruins until the 9th century when the Bulgarians built a new fortress on the top of the ruins. This in turn was destroyed by the Pechenegs (a nomadic Turkic tribe) some 150 years later. A museum on the site displays artefacts from these epochs and a substantial hoard of coins. In the town there is the 16th century Ibrahim Pasha mosque, one of the largest in the Balkans, and in the suburb of Varosha, restored and original National Revival houses.