Troyan is a picturesque mountain town located on the banks of the Osam River and famous for its ceramics and the production of plum rakia (Bulgarian fruit brandy). In the past, the best master potters lived on these lands. The great competition between them and their attempts to stand out with something new and different stand at the core of their creativity, the variety of decorations on their pots and their entrepreneurial skills.
Almost every second house had a potter’s wheel. The craftsmen mixed their dyes at home according to a homemade recipe and achieved different shades of colours. That’s why customers picked up the dishes and compared them until they chose the best ones. This creative and entrepreneurship drive and love for art in its various forms are in the blood of the locals to this day.
In the following lines, I will introduce you to 9 fun and unusual things to do around Troyan that have preserved traditional Bulgarian crafts.
Art Gallery ,,Seryakova House”
When you enter the Seryakova House, you immediately immerse yourself in the sophisticated atmosphere of an impressive art gallery. The house belonged to Georgi Seryakov – Gio who was part of the Botev Band. It is in Viennese Baroque style, as Gio’ s wife was of Austro-Hungarian origin.
The gallery is also in Culture Тrір‘ s article for top Bulgarian art galleries and museums. It hosts a wide variety of events – jazz concerts, literary readings and meetings with famous people. You can also get a ceramic product as a gift there.
There is also a rock bar, called ,,Art Club“, in the basement of the gallery with very good coffee and a variety of beers for every taste.
“Na Dvorat” Inn – a vintage restaurant for connoisseurs
We visited a lot of restaurants in Troyan, but this one remained our favourite and we highly recommend it. Na Dvorat Inn impresses with a vintage setting, authentic retro elements, warm hospitality and delicious and varied dishes made out of fresh products. The owner has breathed new life into old furniture and the place is whimsical.
While we had lunch at the inn, we learned that the matriarchy always ruled in Troyan. Women in these latitudes are by default strong and resilient and occupy leadership positions. This trait is a legacy of the past, when men went abroad to provide for the family while their wives handled raising the children and everything else all by themselves.
Vinprom Troyan
The Bulgarian leader in the production of fruit brandies and liqueurs Vinprom Troyan organizes tours of the factory and demonstrates all stages of the process – from receiving fruit through fermentation, distillation, the warehouse for maturing brandies to the bottling of the finished product. The factory was founded in 1948 and this year celebrates its 75th anniversary.
Each tour ends with a tasting. If you try rakia from different varieties of plum, you will feel a difference in their taste and aroma. Early ones are more aromatic and not as sweet, while late ones are sweeter but not as aromatic. The variety of brandies for tasting will make you feel like a kid in a candy store.
There are brandies made from all kinds of fruit – cherry, peach, apple and others. The plum rakia with honey is very drinkable, and for the more adventurous ones, there is also a Chilean spirit brandy. If you’re not a fan of rakia, don’t worry – they’ve got you covered with fruit liqueurs with a lower alcohol content.
Plum rakia is highly appreciated in Troyan and has its own holiday – the Plum and Plum Rakia Festival, which is held annually at the end of September and is a paradise for amateur tasters and rakia producers.
Troyan monastery
Without any doubt, the Troyan Monastery is the most significant cultural and historical landmark in this region. It is the largest Bulgarian monastery in the Balkan mountains and the third largest one in Bulgaria. It is famous for its exquisite wood carvings, its majestic architecture, the miraculous icon of the “Holy Mother of God Troehruchitsa” and the amazing frescoes by Zahari Zograf in the monastery church.
The monastery was an important literary center and a refuge for revolutionary causes in the mid-19th century. Here Levski founded a revolutionary committee in which all the monks took part.
Oreshak village
The National Exhibition of Arts and Crafts in the village of Oreshak is located near the Troyan Monastery. The exhibition covers more than 50 acres and has nine exhibition halls. They present the works of various traditional Bulgarian crafts – woodworking, wood carving, pyrography, twisted furniture, pottery and others.
In addition to admiring the craftsmanship of local artisans, visitors can attend demonstrations of various crafts, taste plum rakia and participate in pottery, woodcarving, pyrography and weaving workshops. At the end of each workshop, you have the opportunity to take your masterpiece home and impress your loved ones with your technique or surprise them with a valuable gift that preserves the memory of your experience.
Museum of folk crafts and applied arts in Troyan
The Museum of Folk Crafts and Applied Arts in Troyan specializes in crafts and is the only museum in Bulgaria that presents crafts as tools with which craftsmen work on ready-made pots. It was awarded the “Museum of the Year” award for 2018. The building is emblematic of Troyan and is its architectural pride. It was built by master Gencho Kanev from Tryavna, who is the architect behind the Gabrovo Assumption Church and the Varna Cathedral.
The expositions in the museum are grouped by themes – development of the Troyan School of ceramics, decorative techniques in pottery, wood carving and icon painting, reconstruction of a Renaissance dwelling, traditional fabrics and clothing in Troyan region and modern ceramics.
A big attraction for young and old visitors are the lockers scattered around the museum with the inscription “Please touch”, the rotating showcases with impressive pots and the boxes with curious additional materials.
National school for mountain guides – Cherni Osam village
Vasil Levski National School for Mountain Guides is a real find. As you walk through its corridors, you can feel the love for nature and the mountains that the students and teachers here carry in their hearts.
The school studies subjects such as mountaineering and sport climbing, ski training, topography and orienteering, mountain hazards, speleology and caving, paramedics, tourism marketing and management and hospitality in the tourism industry.
The school’s greatest pride is its three climbing walls. On the wall in the photo, the sport climbing exam takes place and at the final, the teacher at the top waits for his students with the diary to evaluate their performance. The school regularly organizes Open Days, during which participants have the opportunity to go ziplining or try sport climbing.
Natural History Museum, Cherni Osam village
The natural history museum in the village of Cherni Osam is situated close to the School of Mountain Guides. The museum has a very rich collection of insects – butterflies, ladybugs, hornets and others. The idea of the showcases in the museum is to present the animals in their natural environment – in interaction with other species with which they generally interact.
In recent years, the population of brown bears in the Trojan Balkan has significantly increased. They have lost their instinct for self-preservation and descended into populated areas in search of food. We were told that they are not predators and only attack if they are injured or guarding their young.
Patreshko village
The village of Patreshko is a truly extraordinary village in the Trojan Balkan. It is located high in the mountains and offers breathtaking views of the surrounding area. In the past it was a very large village and during the national census of 1942 it even had 80 people more than Oreshak.
Its name comes from the words “patrav”, “patretsi”, which mean a disabled person. During the first years of the socialist regime, a large number of young people left the village and went to the city, where they had a normal working day and a variety of entertainment. It is a curious fact that today the village even has its own salt room, as well as a children’s corner with a zipline that runs through the forest.
During our stay in Patreshko, we met a rather colorful, sweet-talking and enterprising lady – Ivanka Tsrova, teacher of restaurant and hotel management. In her guest house “On the field” she organizes interesting workshops on recycling old furniture and kneading ritual breads away from the city noise.
Tsrova initiated us into the intricacies of kneading prosphora – a small round ritual bread of two parts, which symbolizes the divine and human nature of Christ, as well as his self-sacrifice. You can see more footage from the workshop in our Youtube channel.
Our press trip took place with the assistance of the regional association Tour Club ReMark and the financial support of the municipality of Troyan. We sincerely thank all the organizers who managed to ignite our interest in the Troyan region and convey to us some of its magic.
