#dryanovo monastery

[bulgara]

Dryanovo Monastery // Gabrovo Area // Balkan // Bulgaria

#dryanovo monastery #dryanovo #gabrovo #balkan #monastery #bg #bulgaria #bulgarian #world history #history #travel #trip

[rosefest]

Nowadays Veliko Tumovo

Nowadays Veliko Tumovo is one of Bulgaria’s university towns with many secondary and special schools, a theatre, an art gallery and museums.

Major historical monuments and tourist sites

Tsarevets — a fortified hill, towering over the Yantra fortress wall, the defence towers, Patriarch’s residence and As- sension Church and palace.

District History Museum

District History Museum is the country’s second largest. Displayed here are many monuments of Thracian, Roman, Byzantine, Slavonic and Bulgarian cultures.

Holy Martyrs Church (1230) with its famous stone columns with inscriptions by Khan Omourtag and Tsar Ivan As- sen III.

Church of St Dimiter is at the foot of the Trapezitsahiil.

It was in this church that Peter and Assen declared the 1185 Uprising against Byzantine domination.

Church of Saints Peter and Paul, built and painted in the 14th century.

The National Revival Museum in the Nikoli Inn.

Old Gurko Street is a typical Turnovo street. Most of the houses here were built during Ottoman rule. Of particular interest are Granny Mata’s house and Sarafka’s house.

Monuments; Velcho Conspiracy monument, erected in 1935 to commemorate the centenary of the uprising; Vassil Levskimonument; to those who died in the wars of 1885, 1912-1913 and 1915-1918.

Hotels: Veliko Turnovo, 2 Emil Popov St., 195 rooms, restaurant, day bar and night club cafe, free shop, hairdresser’s, indoor swimming pool, rent-a-car bureau. Tel. 3-05-71 sofia sightseeing. Etur, 4 Ivailo St., 7 floors, two stars, 12 suites, 128 beds; restaurant, night club, hairdresser’s, rent-a-car and information office. Tel. 2-68-51, Yantra, 1 Velchova Zavera St., two stars, 4 floors, 2 suites and 105 beds, restaurant, night club, cafe, information and rent-a-car office. Tel. 2-03-91.

Union of Bulgarian Motorists — 6 Tolbukhin St. Tel.: 2-14-69.

Some 50 km from Vehko Turnovo along E-85 is the pictu-resque town of Gabrovo. On the way is Dryanovo (pop. 11,0), situated on the banks of River Dryanovo. In the Middle Ages there was a Bulgarian fortress built on the plateau over the Dryanovo Monastery. In the Tryavna Pass in 1190 Peter and Assen defeated troops of the Byzantine Emperor Isaak Angel II and laid the foundations of the Second Bulgarian State. The mins of the Roman Diskoduraterra fortress are 7-8 km to the northeast. The town was most prosperous during the National Revival. It is the birth place of the great Bulgarian builder and architect, Master Kolyu Ficheto.

Tourist sights: The Kolyu Ficheto Museum — an original house built in traditional Bulgarian national style. Church of St Nikola was built by Kolyu Ficheto in 1851, The Lafchiev house 1840, is a masterpiece of National Revival architecture.

#Nowadays Veliko Tumovo

[skitours]

Nowadays Veliko Tumovo

Nowadays Veliko Tumovo is one of Bulgaria’s university towns with many secondary and special schools, a theatre, an art gallery and museums.

Major historical monuments and tourist sites

Tsarevets — a fortified hill, towering over the Yantra fortress wall, the defence towers, Patriarch’s residence and As- sension Church and palace.

District History Museum

District History Museum is the country’s second largest. Displayed here are many monuments of Thracian, Roman, Byzantine, Slavonic and Bulgarian cultures.

Holy Martyrs Church (1230) with its famous stone columns with inscriptions by Khan Omourtag and Tsar Ivan As- sen III.

Church of St Dimiter is at the foot of the Trapezitsahiil.

It was in this church that Peter and Assen declared the 1185 Uprising against Byzantine domination.

Church of Saints Peter and Paul, built and painted in the 14th century.

The National Revival Museum in the Nikoli Inn.

Old Gurko Street is a typical Turnovo street. Most of the houses here were built during Ottoman rule. Of particular interest are Granny Mata’s house and Sarafka’s house.

Monuments; Velcho Conspiracy monument, erected in 1935 to commemorate the centenary of the uprising; Vassil Levskimonument; to those who died in the wars of 1885, 1912-1913 and 1915-1918.

Hotels: Veliko Turnovo, 2 Emil Popov St., 195 rooms, restaurant, day bar and night club cafe, free shop, hairdresser’s, indoor swimming pool, rent-a-car bureau. Tel. 3-05-71 sofia sightseeing. Etur, 4 Ivailo St., 7 floors, two stars, 12 suites, 128 beds; restaurant, night club, hairdresser’s, rent-a-car and information office. Tel. 2-68-51, Yantra, 1 Velchova Zavera St., two stars, 4 floors, 2 suites and 105 beds, restaurant, night club, cafe, information and rent-a-car office. Tel. 2-03-91.

Union of Bulgarian Motorists — 6 Tolbukhin St. Tel.: 2-14-69.

Some 50 km from Vehko Turnovo along E-85 is the pictu-resque town of Gabrovo. On the way is Dryanovo (pop. 11,0), situated on the banks of River Dryanovo. In the Middle Ages there was a Bulgarian fortress built on the plateau over the Dryanovo Monastery. In the Tryavna Pass in 1190 Peter and Assen defeated troops of the Byzantine Emperor Isaak Angel II and laid the foundations of the Second Bulgarian State. The mins of the Roman Diskoduraterra fortress are 7-8 km to the northeast. The town was most prosperous during the National Revival. It is the birth place of the great Bulgarian builder and architect, Master Kolyu Ficheto.

Tourist sights: The Kolyu Ficheto Museum — an original house built in traditional Bulgarian national style. Church of St Nikola was built by Kolyu Ficheto in 1851, The Lafchiev house 1840, is a masterpiece of National Revival architecture.

#Nowadays Veliko Tumovo

[airlineticketsbg]

Nowadays Veliko Tumovo

Nowadays Veliko Tumovo is one of Bulgaria’s university towns with many secondary and special schools, a theatre, an art gallery and museums.

Major historical monuments and tourist sites

Tsarevets — a fortified hill, towering over the Yantra fortress wall, the defence towers, Patriarch’s residence and As- sension Church and palace.

District History Museum

District History Museum is the country’s second largest. Displayed here are many monuments of Thracian, Roman, Byzantine, Slavonic and Bulgarian cultures.

Holy Martyrs Church (1230) with its famous stone columns with inscriptions by Khan Omourtag and Tsar Ivan As- sen III.

Church of St Dimiter is at the foot of the Trapezitsahiil.

It was in this church that Peter and Assen declared the 1185 Uprising against Byzantine domination.

Church of Saints Peter and Paul, built and painted in the 14th century.

The National Revival Museum in the Nikoli Inn.

Old Gurko Street is a typical Turnovo street. Most of the houses here were built during Ottoman rule. Of particular interest are Granny Mata’s house and Sarafka’s house.

Monuments; Velcho Conspiracy monument, erected in 1935 to commemorate the centenary of the uprising; Vassil Levskimonument; to those who died in the wars of 1885, 1912-1913 and 1915-1918.

Hotels: Veliko Turnovo, 2 Emil Popov St., 195 rooms, restaurant, day bar and night club cafe, free shop, hairdresser’s, indoor swimming pool, rent-a-car bureau. Tel. 3-05-71 sofia sightseeing. Etur, 4 Ivailo St., 7 floors, two stars, 12 suites, 128 beds; restaurant, night club, hairdresser’s, rent-a-car and information office. Tel. 2-68-51, Yantra, 1 Velchova Zavera St., two stars, 4 floors, 2 suites and 105 beds, restaurant, night club, cafe, information and rent-a-car office. Tel. 2-03-91.

Union of Bulgarian Motorists — 6 Tolbukhin St. Tel.: 2-14-69.

Some 50 km from Vehko Turnovo along E-85 is the pictu-resque town of Gabrovo. On the way is Dryanovo (pop. 11,0), situated on the banks of River Dryanovo. In the Middle Ages there was a Bulgarian fortress built on the plateau over the Dryanovo Monastery. In the Tryavna Pass in 1190 Peter and Assen defeated troops of the Byzantine Emperor Isaak Angel II and laid the foundations of the Second Bulgarian State. The mins of the Roman Diskoduraterra fortress are 7-8 km to the northeast. The town was most prosperous during the National Revival. It is the birth place of the great Bulgarian builder and architect, Master Kolyu Ficheto.

Tourist sights: The Kolyu Ficheto Museum — an original house built in traditional Bulgarian national style. Church of St Nikola was built by Kolyu Ficheto in 1851, The Lafchiev house 1840, is a masterpiece of National Revival architecture.

#Nowadays Veliko Tumovo

[religiontour]

Nowadays Veliko Tumovo

Nowadays Veliko Tumovo is one of Bulgaria’s university towns with many secondary and special schools, a theatre, an art gallery and museums.

Major historical monuments and tourist sites

Tsarevets — a fortified hill, towering over the Yantra fortress wall, the defence towers, Patriarch’s residence and As- sension Church and palace.

District History Museum

District History Museum is the country’s second largest. Displayed here are many monuments of Thracian, Roman, Byzantine, Slavonic and Bulgarian cultures.

Holy Martyrs Church (1230) with its famous stone columns with inscriptions by Khan Omourtag and Tsar Ivan As- sen III.

Church of St Dimiter is at the foot of the Trapezitsahiil.

It was in this church that Peter and Assen declared the 1185 Uprising against Byzantine domination.

Church of Saints Peter and Paul, built and painted in the 14th century.

The National Revival Museum in the Nikoli Inn.

Old Gurko Street is a typical Turnovo street. Most of the houses here were built during Ottoman rule. Of particular interest are Granny Mata’s house and Sarafka’s house.

Monuments; Velcho Conspiracy monument, erected in 1935 to commemorate the centenary of the uprising; Vassil Levskimonument; to those who died in the wars of 1885, 1912-1913 and 1915-1918.

Hotels: Veliko Turnovo, 2 Emil Popov St., 195 rooms, restaurant, day bar and night club cafe, free shop, hairdresser’s, indoor swimming pool, rent-a-car bureau. Tel. 3-05-71 sofia sightseeing. Etur, 4 Ivailo St., 7 floors, two stars, 12 suites, 128 beds; restaurant, night club, hairdresser’s, rent-a-car and information office. Tel. 2-68-51, Yantra, 1 Velchova Zavera St., two stars, 4 floors, 2 suites and 105 beds, restaurant, night club, cafe, information and rent-a-car office. Tel. 2-03-91.

Union of Bulgarian Motorists — 6 Tolbukhin St. Tel.: 2-14-69.

Some 50 km from Vehko Turnovo along E-85 is the pictu-resque town of Gabrovo. On the way is Dryanovo (pop. 11,0), situated on the banks of River Dryanovo. In the Middle Ages there was a Bulgarian fortress built on the plateau over the Dryanovo Monastery. In the Tryavna Pass in 1190 Peter and Assen defeated troops of the Byzantine Emperor Isaak Angel II and laid the foundations of the Second Bulgarian State. The mins of the Roman Diskoduraterra fortress are 7-8 km to the northeast. The town was most prosperous during the National Revival. It is the birth place of the great Bulgarian builder and architect, Master Kolyu Ficheto.

Tourist sights: The Kolyu Ficheto Museum — an original house built in traditional Bulgarian national style. Church of St Nikola was built by Kolyu Ficheto in 1851, The Lafchiev house 1840, is a masterpiece of National Revival architecture.

#Nowadays Veliko Tumovo

[travelmgznbg]

Bacho Kiro

There is a tourist hostel accommodating 40 and the Mil- kana hotel — 2 Bacho Kiro St., two stars, 4 floors, 140 beds, tel. 22-61,

Some 4 km south of Dryanovo in the bosom of the mountains, is the Dryanovo Monastery, founded during the Second Bulgarian State. During the Uprising of April 1876, 200 insurgents, led by the teacher Bacho Kiro and Priest Hariton resisted the 10,000 strong Ottoman army. Their remains are kept in a mausoleum. The two churches St Archangel Michael (1845) and the Assumption are also interesting tourist attractions.

500 metres from the Monastery is Bacho Kiro cave where remains from the Paleolithic Age have been discovered. The cave is well-appointed with electricity and open to visitors.

Near the monastery is a Balkantourist hotel, 2 stars tel. 24-71, accommodating 50, restaurant, national tavema. Near the cave is a tourist chalet, accommodating 100.

A broad branches off south of Dryanovo, leading to the old Bulganan town of Tryavna (pop. 14,000), located amidst picturesque surroundings. During the National Revival the town was a craft and trade centre. Tryavna is situated 432 m above sea level and its clunate is moderate continental.

The Daskalov Museum, with carved wooden ceilings. The Museum of Woodcarving and Icon-painting, with models of the famous Tryavna art school, is also in the building.

The square with its clock tower built in 1814 and bridge are the landmarks of the town.

Slaveikov Museum where the prominent Bulgarian writer and politician Petko Rachov Slaveikov lived from 1853-1879, is also worth a visit. His son, poet Pencho Slaveikov, was born here.

Pencho Raikov Museum, typical Tryavna architecture from the National Revival Period.

AngelKunchev Museum

church of St, Archangel Michael is one of the three churches built late in the 12th century by Assen and Peter to mark their victory in the Tryavna woods in 1190 over Emperor Isaak Angel, The church was extended in 1819 and in 18201821. It was decorated with wood-carvings. Ihe bishop’s throne in the church is a masterpiece of engraving. A wooden cross with carved Biblical scenes is in the church.

Church of St Georgi

Church of St Georgi, built in 1842-1852. Its iconostasis is of carved wood.

The town has a hotel — Ralitsa, 2 stars, tel. 22-19 and a comfortable tourist hostel.

8 km before reaching Gabrovo, left of E-85, there is a detour leading to the museum village of Bozhentsi nestling in the Balkan Range. Legend has it that in 1393 sofia sightseeing, when the Ottoman hordes captured the capital of the Second Bulgarian State, Tumovgrad, the population took refuge in the mountains. Among the refuges was the noblewoman Bozhena and her nine sons, and the village was named after her, Bozhentsi’s prosperity started in the second half of the 18th century, when art and crafts industries developed such as smithies, weaving and pottery. Its enterprising tradesmen travelled to Romania, Austro- Hungary and Russia. Its prosperous population built two-storey houses with heavy stone roofs, wide wooden verandahs and carved wooden gates.

The village was proclaimed an architectural and historical reserve. The Unions of Architects, Writers and Artists all have buildings here.

#Bacho Kiro

[trekkingbulgaria]

Bacho Kiro

There is a tourist hostel accommodating 40 and the Mil- kana hotel — 2 Bacho Kiro St., two stars, 4 floors, 140 beds, tel. 22-61,

Some 4 km south of Dryanovo in the bosom of the mountains, is the Dryanovo Monastery, founded during the Second Bulgarian State. During the Uprising of April 1876, 200 insurgents, led by the teacher Bacho Kiro and Priest Hariton resisted the 10,000 strong Ottoman army. Their remains are kept in a mausoleum. The two churches St Archangel Michael (1845) and the Assumption are also interesting tourist attractions.

500 metres from the Monastery is Bacho Kiro cave where remains from the Paleolithic Age have been discovered. The cave is well-appointed with electricity and open to visitors.

Near the monastery is a Balkantourist hotel, 2 stars tel. 24-71, accommodating 50, restaurant, national tavema. Near the cave is a tourist chalet, accommodating 100.

A broad branches off south of Dryanovo, leading to the old Bulganan town of Tryavna (pop. 14,000), located amidst picturesque surroundings. During the National Revival the town was a craft and trade centre. Tryavna is situated 432 m above sea level and its clunate is moderate continental.

The Daskalov Museum, with carved wooden ceilings. The Museum of Woodcarving and Icon-painting, with models of the famous Tryavna art school, is also in the building.

The square with its clock tower built in 1814 and bridge are the landmarks of the town.

Slaveikov Museum where the prominent Bulgarian writer and politician Petko Rachov Slaveikov lived from 1853-1879, is also worth a visit. His son, poet Pencho Slaveikov, was born here.

Pencho Raikov Museum, typical Tryavna architecture from the National Revival Period.

AngelKunchev Museum

church of St, Archangel Michael is one of the three churches built late in the 12th century by Assen and Peter to mark their victory in the Tryavna woods in 1190 over Emperor Isaak Angel, The church was extended in 1819 and in 18201821. It was decorated with wood-carvings. Ihe bishop’s throne in the church is a masterpiece of engraving. A wooden cross with carved Biblical scenes is in the church.

Church of St Georgi

Church of St Georgi, built in 1842-1852. Its iconostasis is of carved wood.

The town has a hotel — Ralitsa, 2 stars, tel. 22-19 and a comfortable tourist hostel.

8 km before reaching Gabrovo, left of E-85, there is a detour leading to the museum village of Bozhentsi nestling in the Balkan Range. Legend has it that in 1393 sofia sightseeing, when the Ottoman hordes captured the capital of the Second Bulgarian State, Tumovgrad, the population took refuge in the mountains. Among the refuges was the noblewoman Bozhena and her nine sons, and the village was named after her, Bozhentsi’s prosperity started in the second half of the 18th century, when art and crafts industries developed such as smithies, weaving and pottery. Its enterprising tradesmen travelled to Romania, Austro- Hungary and Russia. Its prosperous population built two-storey houses with heavy stone roofs, wide wooden verandahs and carved wooden gates.

The village was proclaimed an architectural and historical reserve. The Unions of Architects, Writers and Artists all have buildings here.

#Bacho Kiro

[newcityistanbul]

Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations

Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations. The country takes up the larger part of the Balkan Peninsula’s eastern half, the easternmost of Europe’s southern peninsulas. There are high mountains in the peninsula here, the seemingly endless chain of the Balkan Range, the Rila-Rhodope massif, with its snow-capped peaks, and’rich mineral deposits; there are spacious shores here too, those of the Black Sea to the East, with their deep and hospitable bays, and not far from the country’s southern frontier the shores of the Aegean and the Sea of Marmora. Wide plains and mountain valleys stretch out far and wide, cut through by deep rivers, which have kept their ancient names, such as the Danube and the Isker, the Ossum and the Yantra, the Strouma and the Mesta. The peninusula’s southern shores are washed by the Aegean and the Sea of Marmora, in whose basins some of mankind’s most ancient civilizations developed.

The Rila-Rhodope massif, and further to the North the Stara Pla- nina, as the Balkan Range is locally known, though rising like walls parallel to the southern seas, have never been impassable barriers to the interior of the peninsula. Several of the big rivers in the peninsula, such as the Strouma, the Mesta and the Maritsa, take their source in these mountains, cutting across the mountain barriers and opening the way to the warm sea. Along these natural and eternal roads the peninsula kept in constant touch with the southern countries. To the East, the Black Sea coast faced the horizon of the South Russian steppes and the Caucasus.

The big European River Danube was no obstacle to relations with the North, on the countrary, it favoured them, being the oldest route linking the peninsula with the distant lands of Central Europe. The narrow straits, which divide Europe and Asia geographically balkan tours, were also actually a convenient bridge, along which tribes and peoples have passed from one continent to the other since time immemorial. The straits were never a hindrance to the exchange of the commodities created in distant centres of culture. In the past, the Bulgarian lands were the gateway of Europe to the Orient. They have always been the crossroads of the Mediterranean world along which, since the oldest times, many peoples passed from east to west and from west to east, from north to south and from south to north.

THE PALEOLITHIC, NEOLITHIC, ENEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGES IN BULGARIA

The Bulgarian lands have been inhabited by man since the most ancient times. The oldest traces of human life are found in the caves of the country’s inner mountainous regions. Recently, such traces have, however, also been found in the coastal regions of the Black Sea. They all belong to the second half of the Paleolithic Age, the Mous- terian and Aurignacian periods, whichmeans that primitiveman inhabited these lands over 40,000 years ago. The most primitive manmade implements discovered so far in Bulgaria came to light at the Bacho Kiro cave near the Dryanovo Monastery, the so-called stone scrapers and points, quite roughly hewn, the typical weapons of Mousterian man.

Flint tools of the Aurignacian period, showing a more perfect technique and a certain further differentiation of implements of labour, have been found in a number of other caves, such as Temnata Doupka (the Dark Hole) near Karloukovo in the region of Lou- kovit. Implements made of bone were found for the first time among them. Considerable new material has been obtained from the study of caves and rock shelters along the valleys of the Isker and the Ossum Rivers, undertaken in the last few years; this is now being studied by specialists, and promises partly to supplement our knowledge of the life of primitive man in the last periods of the late Paleolithic, as well as of the Mesolithic periods (15,000 to 6000 B. C.), of which no archaeological finds had come to light in Bulgaria until recently.

Man’s primitive culture of the Neolithic and the Eneolithic period. and the early Bronze Age is far better known. There is still discussion as to the absolute chronology of these cultures.

#Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations

[tasteoftravel]

Bacho Kiro

There is a tourist hostel accommodating 40 and the Mil- kana hotel — 2 Bacho Kiro St., two stars, 4 floors, 140 beds, tel. 22-61,

Some 4 km south of Dryanovo in the bosom of the mountains, is the Dryanovo Monastery, founded during the Second Bulgarian State. During the Uprising of April 1876, 200 insurgents, led by the teacher Bacho Kiro and Priest Hariton resisted the 10,000 strong Ottoman army. Their remains are kept in a mausoleum. The two churches St Archangel Michael (1845) and the Assumption are also interesting tourist attractions.

500 metres from the Monastery is Bacho Kiro cave where remains from the Paleolithic Age have been discovered. The cave is well-appointed with electricity and open to visitors.

Near the monastery is a Balkantourist hotel, 2 stars tel. 24-71, accommodating 50, restaurant, national tavema. Near the cave is a tourist chalet, accommodating 100.

A broad branches off south of Dryanovo, leading to the old Bulganan town of Tryavna (pop. 14,000), located amidst picturesque surroundings. During the National Revival the town was a craft and trade centre. Tryavna is situated 432 m above sea level and its clunate is moderate continental.

The Daskalov Museum, with carved wooden ceilings. The Museum of Woodcarving and Icon-painting, with models of the famous Tryavna art school, is also in the building.

The square with its clock tower built in 1814 and bridge are the landmarks of the town.

Slaveikov Museum where the prominent Bulgarian writer and politician Petko Rachov Slaveikov lived from 1853-1879, is also worth a visit. His son, poet Pencho Slaveikov, was born here.

Pencho Raikov Museum, typical Tryavna architecture from the National Revival Period.

AngelKunchev Museum

church of St, Archangel Michael is one of the three churches built late in the 12th century by Assen and Peter to mark their victory in the Tryavna woods in 1190 over Emperor Isaak Angel, The church was extended in 1819 and in 18201821. It was decorated with wood-carvings. Ihe bishop’s throne in the church is a masterpiece of engraving. A wooden cross with carved Biblical scenes is in the church.

Church of St Georgi

Church of St Georgi, built in 1842-1852. Its iconostasis is of carved wood.

The town has a hotel — Ralitsa, 2 stars, tel. 22-19 and a comfortable tourist hostel.

8 km before reaching Gabrovo, left of E-85, there is a detour leading to the museum village of Bozhentsi nestling in the Balkan Range. Legend has it that in 1393 sofia sightseeing, when the Ottoman hordes captured the capital of the Second Bulgarian State, Tumovgrad, the population took refuge in the mountains. Among the refuges was the noblewoman Bozhena and her nine sons, and the village was named after her, Bozhentsi’s prosperity started in the second half of the 18th century, when art and crafts industries developed such as smithies, weaving and pottery. Its enterprising tradesmen travelled to Romania, Austro- Hungary and Russia. Its prosperous population built two-storey houses with heavy stone roofs, wide wooden verandahs and carved wooden gates.

The village was proclaimed an architectural and historical reserve. The Unions of Architects, Writers and Artists all have buildings here.

#Bacho Kiro

[istanbularttr]

Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations

Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations. The country takes up the larger part of the Balkan Peninsula’s eastern half, the easternmost of Europe’s southern peninsulas. There are high mountains in the peninsula here, the seemingly endless chain of the Balkan Range, the Rila-Rhodope massif, with its snow-capped peaks, and’rich mineral deposits; there are spacious shores here too, those of the Black Sea to the East, with their deep and hospitable bays, and not far from the country’s southern frontier the shores of the Aegean and the Sea of Marmora. Wide plains and mountain valleys stretch out far and wide, cut through by deep rivers, which have kept their ancient names, such as the Danube and the Isker, the Ossum and the Yantra, the Strouma and the Mesta. The peninusula’s southern shores are washed by the Aegean and the Sea of Marmora, in whose basins some of mankind’s most ancient civilizations developed.

The Rila-Rhodope massif, and further to the North the Stara Pla- nina, as the Balkan Range is locally known, though rising like walls parallel to the southern seas, have never been impassable barriers to the interior of the peninsula. Several of the big rivers in the peninsula, such as the Strouma, the Mesta and the Maritsa, take their source in these mountains, cutting across the mountain barriers and opening the way to the warm sea. Along these natural and eternal roads the peninsula kept in constant touch with the southern countries. To the East, the Black Sea coast faced the horizon of the South Russian steppes and the Caucasus.

The big European River Danube was no obstacle to relations with the North, on the countrary, it favoured them, being the oldest route linking the peninsula with the distant lands of Central Europe. The narrow straits, which divide Europe and Asia geographically balkan tours, were also actually a convenient bridge, along which tribes and peoples have passed from one continent to the other since time immemorial. The straits were never a hindrance to the exchange of the commodities created in distant centres of culture. In the past, the Bulgarian lands were the gateway of Europe to the Orient. They have always been the crossroads of the Mediterranean world along which, since the oldest times, many peoples passed from east to west and from west to east, from north to south and from south to north.

THE PALEOLITHIC, NEOLITHIC, ENEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGES IN BULGARIA

The Bulgarian lands have been inhabited by man since the most ancient times. The oldest traces of human life are found in the caves of the country’s inner mountainous regions. Recently, such traces have, however, also been found in the coastal regions of the Black Sea. They all belong to the second half of the Paleolithic Age, the Mous- terian and Aurignacian periods, whichmeans that primitiveman inhabited these lands over 40,000 years ago. The most primitive manmade implements discovered so far in Bulgaria came to light at the Bacho Kiro cave near the Dryanovo Monastery, the so-called stone scrapers and points, quite roughly hewn, the typical weapons of Mousterian man.

Flint tools of the Aurignacian period, showing a more perfect technique and a certain further differentiation of implements of labour, have been found in a number of other caves, such as Temnata Doupka (the Dark Hole) near Karloukovo in the region of Lou- kovit. Implements made of bone were found for the first time among them. Considerable new material has been obtained from the study of caves and rock shelters along the valleys of the Isker and the Ossum Rivers, undertaken in the last few years; this is now being studied by specialists, and promises partly to supplement our knowledge of the life of primitive man in the last periods of the late Paleolithic, as well as of the Mesolithic periods (15,000 to 6000 B. C.), of which no archaeological finds had come to light in Bulgaria until recently.

Man’s primitive culture of the Neolithic and the Eneolithic period. and the early Bronze Age is far better known. There is still discussion as to the absolute chronology of these cultures.

#Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations

[istanbultulip]

Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations

Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations. The country takes up the larger part of the Balkan Peninsula’s eastern half, the easternmost of Europe’s southern peninsulas. There are high mountains in the peninsula here, the seemingly endless chain of the Balkan Range, the Rila-Rhodope massif, with its snow-capped peaks, and’rich mineral deposits; there are spacious shores here too, those of the Black Sea to the East, with their deep and hospitable bays, and not far from the country’s southern frontier the shores of the Aegean and the Sea of Marmora. Wide plains and mountain valleys stretch out far and wide, cut through by deep rivers, which have kept their ancient names, such as the Danube and the Isker, the Ossum and the Yantra, the Strouma and the Mesta. The peninusula’s southern shores are washed by the Aegean and the Sea of Marmora, in whose basins some of mankind’s most ancient civilizations developed.

The Rila-Rhodope massif, and further to the North the Stara Pla- nina, as the Balkan Range is locally known, though rising like walls parallel to the southern seas, have never been impassable barriers to the interior of the peninsula. Several of the big rivers in the peninsula, such as the Strouma, the Mesta and the Maritsa, take their source in these mountains, cutting across the mountain barriers and opening the way to the warm sea. Along these natural and eternal roads the peninsula kept in constant touch with the southern countries. To the East, the Black Sea coast faced the horizon of the South Russian steppes and the Caucasus.

The big European River Danube was no obstacle to relations with the North, on the countrary, it favoured them, being the oldest route linking the peninsula with the distant lands of Central Europe. The narrow straits, which divide Europe and Asia geographically balkan tours, were also actually a convenient bridge, along which tribes and peoples have passed from one continent to the other since time immemorial. The straits were never a hindrance to the exchange of the commodities created in distant centres of culture. In the past, the Bulgarian lands were the gateway of Europe to the Orient. They have always been the crossroads of the Mediterranean world along which, since the oldest times, many peoples passed from east to west and from west to east, from north to south and from south to north.

THE PALEOLITHIC, NEOLITHIC, ENEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGES IN BULGARIA

The Bulgarian lands have been inhabited by man since the most ancient times. The oldest traces of human life are found in the caves of the country’s inner mountainous regions. Recently, such traces have, however, also been found in the coastal regions of the Black Sea. They all belong to the second half of the Paleolithic Age, the Mous- terian and Aurignacian periods, whichmeans that primitiveman inhabited these lands over 40,000 years ago. The most primitive manmade implements discovered so far in Bulgaria came to light at the Bacho Kiro cave near the Dryanovo Monastery, the so-called stone scrapers and points, quite roughly hewn, the typical weapons of Mousterian man.

Flint tools of the Aurignacian period, showing a more perfect technique and a certain further differentiation of implements of labour, have been found in a number of other caves, such as Temnata Doupka (the Dark Hole) near Karloukovo in the region of Lou- kovit. Implements made of bone were found for the first time among them. Considerable new material has been obtained from the study of caves and rock shelters along the valleys of the Isker and the Ossum Rivers, undertaken in the last few years; this is now being studied by specialists, and promises partly to supplement our knowledge of the life of primitive man in the last periods of the late Paleolithic, as well as of the Mesolithic periods (15,000 to 6000 B. C.), of which no archaeological finds had come to light in Bulgaria until recently.

Man’s primitive culture of the Neolithic and the Eneolithic period. and the early Bronze Age is far better known. There is still discussion as to the absolute chronology of these cultures.

#Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations

[bookingonlineflights]

Bacho Kiro

There is a tourist hostel accommodating 40 and the Mil- kana hotel — 2 Bacho Kiro St., two stars, 4 floors, 140 beds, tel. 22-61,

Some 4 km south of Dryanovo in the bosom of the mountains, is the Dryanovo Monastery, founded during the Second Bulgarian State. During the Uprising of April 1876, 200 insurgents, led by the teacher Bacho Kiro and Priest Hariton resisted the 10,000 strong Ottoman army. Their remains are kept in a mausoleum. The two churches St Archangel Michael (1845) and the Assumption are also interesting tourist attractions.

500 metres from the Monastery is Bacho Kiro cave where remains from the Paleolithic Age have been discovered. The cave is well-appointed with electricity and open to visitors.

Near the monastery is a Balkantourist hotel, 2 stars tel. 24-71, accommodating 50, restaurant, national tavema. Near the cave is a tourist chalet, accommodating 100.

A broad branches off south of Dryanovo, leading to the old Bulganan town of Tryavna (pop. 14,000), located amidst picturesque surroundings. During the National Revival the town was a craft and trade centre. Tryavna is situated 432 m above sea level and its clunate is moderate continental.

The Daskalov Museum, with carved wooden ceilings. The Museum of Woodcarving and Icon-painting, with models of the famous Tryavna art school, is also in the building.

The square with its clock tower built in 1814 and bridge are the landmarks of the town.

Slaveikov Museum where the prominent Bulgarian writer and politician Petko Rachov Slaveikov lived from 1853-1879, is also worth a visit. His son, poet Pencho Slaveikov, was born here.

Pencho Raikov Museum, typical Tryavna architecture from the National Revival Period.

AngelKunchev Museum

church of St, Archangel Michael is one of the three churches built late in the 12th century by Assen and Peter to mark their victory in the Tryavna woods in 1190 over Emperor Isaak Angel, The church was extended in 1819 and in 18201821. It was decorated with wood-carvings. Ihe bishop’s throne in the church is a masterpiece of engraving. A wooden cross with carved Biblical scenes is in the church.

Church of St Georgi

Church of St Georgi, built in 1842-1852. Its iconostasis is of carved wood.

The town has a hotel — Ralitsa, 2 stars, tel. 22-19 and a comfortable tourist hostel.

8 km before reaching Gabrovo, left of E-85, there is a detour leading to the museum village of Bozhentsi nestling in the Balkan Range. Legend has it that in 1393 sofia sightseeing, when the Ottoman hordes captured the capital of the Second Bulgarian State, Tumovgrad, the population took refuge in the mountains. Among the refuges was the noblewoman Bozhena and her nine sons, and the village was named after her, Bozhentsi’s prosperity started in the second half of the 18th century, when art and crafts industries developed such as smithies, weaving and pottery. Its enterprising tradesmen travelled to Romania, Austro- Hungary and Russia. Its prosperous population built two-storey houses with heavy stone roofs, wide wooden verandahs and carved wooden gates.

The village was proclaimed an architectural and historical reserve. The Unions of Architects, Writers and Artists all have buildings here.

#Bacho Kiro

[rosefest]

Bacho Kiro

There is a tourist hostel accommodating 40 and the Mil- kana hotel — 2 Bacho Kiro St., two stars, 4 floors, 140 beds, tel. 22-61,

Some 4 km south of Dryanovo in the bosom of the mountains, is the Dryanovo Monastery, founded during the Second Bulgarian State. During the Uprising of April 1876, 200 insurgents, led by the teacher Bacho Kiro and Priest Hariton resisted the 10,000 strong Ottoman army. Their remains are kept in a mausoleum. The two churches St Archangel Michael (1845) and the Assumption are also interesting tourist attractions.

500 metres from the Monastery is Bacho Kiro cave where remains from the Paleolithic Age have been discovered. The cave is well-appointed with electricity and open to visitors.

Near the monastery is a Balkantourist hotel, 2 stars tel. 24-71, accommodating 50, restaurant, national tavema. Near the cave is a tourist chalet, accommodating 100.

A broad branches off south of Dryanovo, leading to the old Bulganan town of Tryavna (pop. 14,000), located amidst picturesque surroundings. During the National Revival the town was a craft and trade centre. Tryavna is situated 432 m above sea level and its clunate is moderate continental.

The Daskalov Museum, with carved wooden ceilings. The Museum of Woodcarving and Icon-painting, with models of the famous Tryavna art school, is also in the building.

The square with its clock tower built in 1814 and bridge are the landmarks of the town.

Slaveikov Museum where the prominent Bulgarian writer and politician Petko Rachov Slaveikov lived from 1853-1879, is also worth a visit. His son, poet Pencho Slaveikov, was born here.

Pencho Raikov Museum, typical Tryavna architecture from the National Revival Period.

AngelKunchev Museum

church of St, Archangel Michael is one of the three churches built late in the 12th century by Assen and Peter to mark their victory in the Tryavna woods in 1190 over Emperor Isaak Angel, The church was extended in 1819 and in 18201821. It was decorated with wood-carvings. Ihe bishop’s throne in the church is a masterpiece of engraving. A wooden cross with carved Biblical scenes is in the church.

Church of St Georgi

Church of St Georgi, built in 1842-1852. Its iconostasis is of carved wood.

The town has a hotel — Ralitsa, 2 stars, tel. 22-19 and a comfortable tourist hostel.

8 km before reaching Gabrovo, left of E-85, there is a detour leading to the museum village of Bozhentsi nestling in the Balkan Range. Legend has it that in 1393 sofia sightseeing, when the Ottoman hordes captured the capital of the Second Bulgarian State, Tumovgrad, the population took refuge in the mountains. Among the refuges was the noblewoman Bozhena and her nine sons, and the village was named after her, Bozhentsi’s prosperity started in the second half of the 18th century, when art and crafts industries developed such as smithies, weaving and pottery. Its enterprising tradesmen travelled to Romania, Austro- Hungary and Russia. Its prosperous population built two-storey houses with heavy stone roofs, wide wooden verandahs and carved wooden gates.

The village was proclaimed an architectural and historical reserve. The Unions of Architects, Writers and Artists all have buildings here.

#Bacho Kiro

[bulgariastreets]

Millions of cubic metres of water

But Bulgaria’s water economy does not rely solely on nature’s efforts. Big dams have been built in the years of people’s rule. Filled with millions of cubic metres of water, they serve both as sources of electrical power and for irrigation and water supply, for fisheries, for the practice of aquatic sports, etc. On Bulgaria’s map artificial water basins have made their appearance, such as the Isker Dam, those of Stouden Kladenets, Batak, Alexander Stamboliiski, Georgi Dimitrov, Kalin, etc. – some 20 in number so far, with still more under construction.

Of course, Bulgaria is fortunate that her territory borders to the north on the Danube and to the east on the Black Sea. These are 470 and 378 km of water courses – the first one linking the country with the greater part of Europe, and the second – with all maritime states in the world.

But perhaps we have had enough of geography. Let us now give you a brief outline of Bulgaria’s history.

FROM THE THRACIAN HORSEMEN DOWN TO OUR CWN TIMES

Many tribes and people have travelled across the territory of Bulgaria through the ages and each of them has left behind something of its material culture. An exhibition of Bulgarian history a few years ago in Paris provoked great interest there and elsewhere.

We have reliable data that the Bulgarian lands were inhabited by man as early as the Musterian Age, i.e. some 100,000 years ago. Evidence of this are the stone implements found in the Bacho Kiro Cave near the Dryanovo Monastery; they are the earliest cultural remains in the Balkan Peninsula.

The first cultured tribes came to Bulgaria’s lands in the second millennium B.C. They were the Thracians who, at first scattered, in the 5th century B.C. set up a mighty state under the guidance of the Odryssae tribe. In the field of arts and crafts the Thracians borrowed from the culture of the Greeks (Greek colonies along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast were set up as early as the 7th century B.C.) daily ephesus tours, but this did not stop them creating an original and very rich Thracian culture of their own.

Roman influence in the Balkan Peninsula started to spread after the 2nd century B.C. The foundations of more than 20 Roman towns which have been excavated in present-day Bulgaria reveal advanced constructional skills. This is particularly true of those centres on the right-hand bank of the Danube, which best reveal the domination of Rome during the lst-6th centuries A.D.

The first Bulgarian state, however, was established by two ethnical groups: Slavs and Proto-Bulgarians. The Slav tribes, or the so-called eastern group, came here in the 5th and 6th centuries. One century later, seven of them united and, in the area between the Danube and the Balkan Range, laid the foundations of an alliance, while preserving at the same time their patriarchal and communal relations. It was these Slavs that the Proto- Bulgarians of Asparouh came upon on their way from Southern Bessarabia, and it was together with them that they laid the foundations of the First Bulgarian State. This act took place in the year 681, when a peace treaty with the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IV Pogonatus recognized its existence.

First Bulgarian State

The First Bulgarian State (^681-1018) developed, briefly, as follows: at the time of Khan Kroum (803-814) the country was consolidated and expanded its boundaries; his successor Omourtag (814-831) concluded a 30-year peace treaty with Byzantium and devoted himself to construction. In 865, under Prince Boris I, Bulgarians and Slavs adopted the Christian religion – an act of tremendous significance for the further development of the state. Cyril and Methodius evolved the Bulgarian alphabet, which became the basis of all Slavonic letters. Under Simeon (893-927) – the son of Boris I – Bulgarian culture enjoyed its ‘golden age’. After that came a period of decline and Bulgaria fell under Byzantine rule (1018-1185). In the same period the well-known social movement of Bogomilism made its appearance and later passed on to Italy and to France.

The Second Bulgarian State comprises the period of 1185 to 1396. The Bulgarians liberated themselves from Byzantine rule in 1185 as a result of a people’s uprising, led by the brothers Assen and Peter. Under Kaloyan (1197-1207) and Ivan Assen II (1218-1241) Bulgaria was the strongest state in South-eastern Europe and her frontiers were washed by three seas — the Black Sea, the Aegean and the Adriatic. After that, cruel internecine struggles flared up and 14 kings reigned in rapid succession. This undermined the foundations of the state and facilitated the victory of the Ottoman Turks, who invaded the Peninsula at the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century. In 1396 all Bulgaria fell under Turkish domination.

#Millions of cubic metres of water

[istanbularge]

Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations

Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations. The country takes up the larger part of the Balkan Peninsula’s eastern half, the easternmost of Europe’s southern peninsulas. There are high mountains in the peninsula here, the seemingly endless chain of the Balkan Range, the Rila-Rhodope massif, with its snow-capped peaks, and’rich mineral deposits; there are spacious shores here too, those of the Black Sea to the East, with their deep and hospitable bays, and not far from the country’s southern frontier the shores of the Aegean and the Sea of Marmora. Wide plains and mountain valleys stretch out far and wide, cut through by deep rivers, which have kept their ancient names, such as the Danube and the Isker, the Ossum and the Yantra, the Strouma and the Mesta. The peninusula’s southern shores are washed by the Aegean and the Sea of Marmora, in whose basins some of mankind’s most ancient civilizations developed.

The Rila-Rhodope massif, and further to the North the Stara Pla- nina, as the Balkan Range is locally known, though rising like walls parallel to the southern seas, have never been impassable barriers to the interior of the peninsula. Several of the big rivers in the peninsula, such as the Strouma, the Mesta and the Maritsa, take their source in these mountains, cutting across the mountain barriers and opening the way to the warm sea. Along these natural and eternal roads the peninsula kept in constant touch with the southern countries. To the East, the Black Sea coast faced the horizon of the South Russian steppes and the Caucasus.

The big European River Danube was no obstacle to relations with the North, on the countrary, it favoured them, being the oldest route linking the peninsula with the distant lands of Central Europe. The narrow straits, which divide Europe and Asia geographically balkan tours, were also actually a convenient bridge, along which tribes and peoples have passed from one continent to the other since time immemorial. The straits were never a hindrance to the exchange of the commodities created in distant centres of culture. In the past, the Bulgarian lands were the gateway of Europe to the Orient. They have always been the crossroads of the Mediterranean world along which, since the oldest times, many peoples passed from east to west and from west to east, from north to south and from south to north.

THE PALEOLITHIC, NEOLITHIC, ENEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGES IN BULGARIA

The Bulgarian lands have been inhabited by man since the most ancient times. The oldest traces of human life are found in the caves of the country’s inner mountainous regions. Recently, such traces have, however, also been found in the coastal regions of the Black Sea. They all belong to the second half of the Paleolithic Age, the Mous- terian and Aurignacian periods, whichmeans that primitiveman inhabited these lands over 40,000 years ago. The most primitive manmade implements discovered so far in Bulgaria came to light at the Bacho Kiro cave near the Dryanovo Monastery, the so-called stone scrapers and points, quite roughly hewn, the typical weapons of Mousterian man.

Flint tools of the Aurignacian period, showing a more perfect technique and a certain further differentiation of implements of labour, have been found in a number of other caves, such as Temnata Doupka (the Dark Hole) near Karloukovo in the region of Lou- kovit. Implements made of bone were found for the first time among them. Considerable new material has been obtained from the study of caves and rock shelters along the valleys of the Isker and the Ossum Rivers, undertaken in the last few years; this is now being studied by specialists, and promises partly to supplement our knowledge of the life of primitive man in the last periods of the late Paleolithic, as well as of the Mesolithic periods (15,000 to 6000 B. C.), of which no archaeological finds had come to light in Bulgaria until recently.

Man’s primitive culture of the Neolithic and the Eneolithic period. and the early Bronze Age is far better known. There is still discussion as to the absolute chronology of these cultures.

#Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations

[istanbulmosque]

Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations

Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations. The country takes up the larger part of the Balkan Peninsula’s eastern half, the easternmost of Europe’s southern peninsulas. There are high mountains in the peninsula here, the seemingly endless chain of the Balkan Range, the Rila-Rhodope massif, with its snow-capped peaks, and’rich mineral deposits; there are spacious shores here too, those of the Black Sea to the East, with their deep and hospitable bays, and not far from the country’s southern frontier the shores of the Aegean and the Sea of Marmora. Wide plains and mountain valleys stretch out far and wide, cut through by deep rivers, which have kept their ancient names, such as the Danube and the Isker, the Ossum and the Yantra, the Strouma and the Mesta. The peninusula’s southern shores are washed by the Aegean and the Sea of Marmora, in whose basins some of mankind’s most ancient civilizations developed.

The Rila-Rhodope massif, and further to the North the Stara Pla- nina, as the Balkan Range is locally known, though rising like walls parallel to the southern seas, have never been impassable barriers to the interior of the peninsula. Several of the big rivers in the peninsula, such as the Strouma, the Mesta and the Maritsa, take their source in these mountains, cutting across the mountain barriers and opening the way to the warm sea. Along these natural and eternal roads the peninsula kept in constant touch with the southern countries. To the East, the Black Sea coast faced the horizon of the South Russian steppes and the Caucasus.

The big European River Danube was no obstacle to relations with the North, on the countrary, it favoured them, being the oldest route linking the peninsula with the distant lands of Central Europe. The narrow straits, which divide Europe and Asia geographically balkan tours, were also actually a convenient bridge, along which tribes and peoples have passed from one continent to the other since time immemorial. The straits were never a hindrance to the exchange of the commodities created in distant centres of culture. In the past, the Bulgarian lands were the gateway of Europe to the Orient. They have always been the crossroads of the Mediterranean world along which, since the oldest times, many peoples passed from east to west and from west to east, from north to south and from south to north.

THE PALEOLITHIC, NEOLITHIC, ENEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGES IN BULGARIA

The Bulgarian lands have been inhabited by man since the most ancient times. The oldest traces of human life are found in the caves of the country’s inner mountainous regions. Recently, such traces have, however, also been found in the coastal regions of the Black Sea. They all belong to the second half of the Paleolithic Age, the Mous- terian and Aurignacian periods, whichmeans that primitiveman inhabited these lands over 40,000 years ago. The most primitive manmade implements discovered so far in Bulgaria came to light at the Bacho Kiro cave near the Dryanovo Monastery, the so-called stone scrapers and points, quite roughly hewn, the typical weapons of Mousterian man.

Flint tools of the Aurignacian period, showing a more perfect technique and a certain further differentiation of implements of labour, have been found in a number of other caves, such as Temnata Doupka (the Dark Hole) near Karloukovo in the region of Lou- kovit. Implements made of bone were found for the first time among them. Considerable new material has been obtained from the study of caves and rock shelters along the valleys of the Isker and the Ossum Rivers, undertaken in the last few years; this is now being studied by specialists, and promises partly to supplement our knowledge of the life of primitive man in the last periods of the late Paleolithic, as well as of the Mesolithic periods (15,000 to 6000 B. C.), of which no archaeological finds had come to light in Bulgaria until recently.

Man’s primitive culture of the Neolithic and the Eneolithic period. and the early Bronze Age is far better known. There is still discussion as to the absolute chronology of these cultures.

#Bulgaria is a land of ancient civilizations