This tour will take you to the small Bulgarian museum towns of National Revival Period and reveal you the beauty of their architectural ensembles. Narrow cobbled lanes fenced in with stone walls, hiding colorful yards with splashing fountains and lovely houses will make you feel the atmosphere of the bygone times.
DAY 1: Arrival day
Upon arrival in Sofia you will be met by our representative. Transfer to Koprivshtitsa (1h 30 min) and accommodation. In the evening gather for a welcome meeting followed by dinner in traditional folk-style restaurant.
DAY 2: Koprivshtitsa
After breakfast you will discover the unique charm and colorful history of the town. Visit to the Oslekov House (built in 1856) with its impressive interior, wood carvings and wall paintings, the Liutov House – a prime example of Bulgarian baroque and the Kableshkov House, with typical interior design. The tour will take you to Sveta Bogoroditsa church (built in 1817) and St. Nikola church (built in 1844). Departure to Etura – the open-air ethnographic museum park where master craftsmen fashion silver, copper, pottery, leather and wooden articles. You will experience the unusual atmosphere of forgotten past times. En route – visit to the Sokolski Monastery (1833) situated on the northern slopes of Stara Planina, 4 km from the Etura. The monastery chapel keeps the icons of the Holy Mother and Jesus Christ, the work of the most famous Bulgarian painter from the National Revival Period – Zahari Zograph. Arrival in Bozhentsi. The village lies roughly between Gabrovo and Tryavna and boasts superb examples of 19th century dwellings.
DAY 3: Bozhentsi & Veliko Tarnovo
After breakfast, sightseeing tour of Bozhentsi. The village now has well over 100 listed buildings, ranging from the grandeur of a wool merchant’s house to the humble dwelling of a rural peasant of that time and also today’s artisan workshops. Departure to Veliko Tarnovo. En route – visit Driyanovo Monastery of St Archangel Michael which was founded in the 12th century, but was destroyed and rebuilt several times during the Ottoman Empire. The monastery also has an interesting historical and geological museum, including Neolithic remains found in a nearby cave. Arrival in Veliko Tarnovo.
DAY 4: Veliko Tarnovo & Arbanassi
A sightseeing tour of Veliko Tarnovo includes the architectural masterpieces Hadji Nikolai Inn, Town Hall, House with the Monkey, Anastassiya’s house, St. Nicholas Church, St. Constantine and Helena Church, and also Tsarevets fortress, the royal palaces and patriarchal church, Baudouin’s Tower, the St. Demetrius Church and St. Peter and Paul Church on Trapezitsa Hill. Next, visit the Arbanassi museum village – 5 km from Veliko Tarnovo. Tour includes the houses of Konstantsaliev, Hadjililiev, Chamurov, Hadjikostov, and Levchev. Also, visit the Birth of Christ Church which is dug into the ground and keeps a genuine art gallery of biblical scenes with over 3,500 strikingly realistic figures. Visit the Transfiguration Monastery built in 14th c. and reconstructed in the 30′s of the 20th c. The monastery keeps mural paintings, iconostasis and icons by Zahariy Zograf, Papa Vitan Mladi, and Stanislav Dospevski.
DAY 5: Elena
A full-day excursion will take you to the nineteenth-century National Revival crafts town of Elena. Visit the house-museum Illarion Makariopolski, the Popnikolov house, built in the first half of the 19th c., the Kambourov inn, and the Razsukanov houses; St Nikolas Church, a sixteenth-century structure rebuilt in 1804 after being burned by marauding Kardzhali. Blindingly colourful icons and frescos crowd a barrel-vaulted space; unremarkable in themselves perhaps, but together creating an overall impression of optimistic, ebullient spirituality. More devotional paintings are on display in the nearby old school (Daskalolivnitsa), including an 1873 Last Judgement displaying the hellish tortures beloved of Bulgarian artists of the period. Next, visit the Kapinovo Monastery and Kilifarevo Monastery.
DAY 6: Sofia
After breakfast, departure to Sofia. Check-in at the hotel and afternoon city tour including the National History Museum, Boyana Church, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the St. George Rotunda, St. Sofia Church and the National Archeological Museum. This evening enjoy a farewell dinner in traditional Bulgarian style.
DAY 7: Departure
Transfer to the airport to board your return flight.