Tryavna

Tryavna was a craft town in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and produced a distinct school of woodcarving, icon painting and building, with families of carvers working across the Bulgarian lands, and the old centre survives largely intact: a small cobbled square with a clock tower of 1814, an arched stone bridge, and streets of white and timber Revival houses running off it. The church of the Archangel Michael holds a carved iconostasis by the local school, and the Daskalov house has two famous carved sun ceilings, made in a competition between two carvers. There are museums of icon painting and of the Tryavna school. The town is compact and everything is within a few minutes' walk.

History

The first documents of the town date from the 12th century, and in 1190 it saw the Battle of Tryavna, crucial to restoring Bulgarian independence from Byzantium; under the Ottomans its people guarded the pass in return for privileges. In the National Revival it became a centre of crafts and woodcarving: the clock tower on the square dates from 1814, the Daskalov house from 1808, its two carved sun ceilings made over six months in a contest between the masters Dimitar Oshanetsa and Ivan Bochukovetsa, and one of the first secular schools in Bulgaria stood on the square (Wikipedia, Tryavna).

What you'll find

• The carved sun ceilings - the two competing ceilings in the Daskalov house.
• The 1814 clock tower - the centre of the old square.
• A carved iconostasis - the Tryavna school work in the church.
• The arched stone bridge - the crossing beside the square.

When to go

April to October. Half a day. Museums close on some Mondays. It is quieter than Arbanasi and less coach-driven. Autumn colour in the surrounding hills is good.

What to expect

Museums are individually ticketed and add up. The town outside the old centre is unremarkable. Some houses are shops selling carved souvenirs of uneven quality. Opening hours are limited out of season.

Nearby

Bozhentsi is west; Dryanovo and its monastery lie north.

Key facts