Dryanovo (, ) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n town situated at the northern foot of the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs f ...

Gabrovo Province Gabrovo Province (; former name ''Gabrovo okrug'') is a small province lying at the geographical centre of Bulgaria. It is named after its main town – Gabrovo. In 2009 the total population of the area was 130,001.

; amphitheatrically along the two banks of Dryanovo River, a tributary to the

Yantra River The Yantra ( ) is a river in northern Bulgaria, a right tributary of the Danube. Reaching a length of 285 km, it is the seventh longest river in Bulgaria and the third longest Bulgarian tributary of the Danube. In the middle and lower course, ...

. The town is a centre of the homonymous

Dryanovo Municipality Dryanovo (or Drjanovo) Municipality () is a municipality ('' obshtina'') in Gabrovo Province, North-central Bulgaria, located in the area of the so-called Fore-Balkan between Stara planina mountain and the Danubian Plain. It is named after its ad ...

, which is composed of 62 villages, hamlets and huts picturesquely spread out of the mountain folds. As of 2015, it had a population of 7,968. In 2009, it was 8,043.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - Bulgarian towns in 2009

Geography

Dryanovo has a favourable geographical position, being situated 20 km away from

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( ) is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the Local government, administrative centre of Gabrovo Province.It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international ca ...

, 24 km from

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

, 17 km from

Tryavna Tryavna ( ) is a town in central Bulgaria, situated in the northern slopes of the Balkan range, on the Tryavna river valley, near Gabrovo. It is famous for its textile industry and typical National Revival architecture, featuring 140 cultural m ...

and about 30 km away from

Sevlievo Sevlievo ( ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town in north-central Bulgaria, part of Gabrovo Province. Sevlievo is known as one of the wealthiest towns in Bulgaria owing to the well developed local economy, high employment rate and maj ...

. The town lies on the

Rousse Ruse (also transliterated as Rousse, Russe; ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fifth-largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, ...

Shipka Shipka may refer to: * Shipka Monument, in Bulgaria * Shipka (town), in Bulgaria * Shipka Pass, in Bulgaria * Shipka (stadium), in Asenovgrad, Bulgaria * Shipka Saddle, in the Tangra Mountains, Livingston Island, Antarctica * Shipka Valley, in the T ...

Kazanlak Kazanlak ( , known as Seuthopolis () in ancient times, is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town in Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria. It is located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan Mountains, Balkan mo ...

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora (, ) is a city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of Stara Zagora Province. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain, near the cities of Kazanlak, Plovdiv, and Sliven. Its population is 121,582 making it the sixth largest c ...

highway and it is a station of the main railway thoroughfare, which links the north and the south part of

History

Like all Balkan mountain settlements, Dryanovo reached its bloom at the time of the

Bulgarian National Revival The Bulgarian Revival (, ''Balgarsko vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and ), sometimes called the Bulgarian National Revival, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian pe ...

. In 1883 it was proclaimed a town. Masons and woodcarvers spread the fame of the town throughout Bulgaria and far away in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. The oldest traces of life on

Balkan Peninsula The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

were discovered in the area, proofs of human presence from the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

were discovered in

Bacho Kiro cave The Bacho Kiro cave () is situated west of the town Dryanovo, Bulgaria, only away from the Dryanovo Monastery. It is embedded in the canyons of the Andaka and Dryanovo River. It was opened in 1890 and the first recreational visitors entered ...

near Dryanovo monastery, situated in the Andaka river valley. Numerous relics of ancient villages, fortresses, pillars with inscriptions and ornaments from

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times (Boruna and Diskoduratera fortresses) were discovered there. Dryanovo is sometimes referred to as "a town of

centenarians A centenarian is a Human, person who has Ageing, reached the age of 100. Because life expectancy, life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there w ...

" for the healthy climatic conditions prolonging people's life. The town is also known as the birthplace of the renowned architect

Kolyu Ficheto Nikola Fichev (; 1800 in Direnova, Ottoman Empire – 1881 in Veliko Tarnovo, Principality of Bulgaria), commonly known as Kolyo Ficheto () or with his Turkish honorific Usta (Master) Kolyo Ficheto, was a Bulgarian National Revival architect, bu ...

Museums

The Kolyu Ficheto Museum
- the museum is located in the Eastern part of town, on Kolyu Ficheto square. Right next to its entrance, there is a large bronze statue made by

n artist Boris Gondov, which is dedicated to architect

, or ''The Master'' as he was also popular. The museum hosts a permanent exposition named "Kolyu Ficheto - life and art", comprised by different documents and artifacts related to ''The Master'': building plans, pictures from old archives and new ones, tools from the period when he was active, as well as some personal belongings among others. * In th
Dryanovo History Museum
you can enjoy several expositions such as "Urban manners from the end of 19th and the beginning 20th century", which can be seen in the Lafchieva and Perevi historic buildings; "Icons and church carpentry from the Dryanovo region, from 17th to 19th century", located in the town's official art gallery; and "Archaeology and the National Revival", exposed in the Dryanovo monastery.

Honours

Dryanovo Heights Dryanovo Heights (''Dryanovski Vazvisheniya'' \'drya-nov-ski v&-zvi-'she-ni-ya\) is an ice-covered heights, rising to 520 m in the northwest part of Greenwich Island. Extending 13 km in northwest-southeast direction, and 7 km in northe ...

Greenwich Island Greenwich Island (variant historical names ''Sartorius Island'', ''Berezina Island'') is an island long and from (average ) wide, lying between Robert Island and Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The island's surface ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

is named after Dryanovo.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Dryanovo is twinned with: *

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, Belarus *

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, Greece *

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, Bulgaria *

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, Italy *

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, Italy * Bocholt, Belgium *

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, North Macedonia *

Ma'ale Adumim Ma'ale Adumim (; ) is an urban Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the West Bank, seven kilometers () east of Jerusalem. Ma'ale Adumim achieved city status in 1991. In 2015, its population was . It is located along Highway 1, whi ...

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in the

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References

Guide-Bulgaria.com

External links

Tourist information and accommodation

Dryanovo tourism website

Dryanovo municipality website

Dryanovo informative publication

Tourist information about Bulgaria

Dryanovo on youtube
{{Authority control Towns in Bulgaria Populated places in Gabrovo Province