Tryavna ( ) is a town in central

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 ...

, situated in the northern slopes of the Balkan range, on the Tryavna river valley, near Gabrovo. It is famous for its

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...

and typical National Revival architecture, featuring 140 cultural monuments, must, and expositions. Tryavna is the birthplace of Bulgarian writer Pencho Slaveykov and revolutionary Angel Kanchev. The town is the administrative centre of the eponymous Tryavna Municipality. As of December 2009, it had a population of 9,831.

History

The village was founded as early as the

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, ...

Era. However, the first documents of its existence date back to the 12th century. In 1190 it was the site of the Battle of Tryavna, which proved crucial in reestablishing Bulgarian independence from the Byzantines. During

Ottoman Bulgaria The history of Ottoman Bulgaria spans nearly 500 years, beginning in the late 14th century, with the Bulgarian–Ottoman Wars, Ottoman conquest of smaller kingdoms from the disintegrating Second Bulgarian Empire. In the late 19th century, Bulgar ...

period locals defended the pass and enjoyed privileges for this reason. Only Bulgarians lived in the town. During the period of Bulgarian National Revival, the town was heavily involved in the development of crafts. Houses from this period feature their own architectural design. The ground floors had irregular forms and housed craftsmen and traders. The upper floors featured wooden bow-windows, the roofs were covered with well-arranged rocks. The town square, named Capitan Diado Nikola, with the clock tower, dating from 1814, are among the landmarks. Another tourist attraction is the "kivgireniyat" bridge, built above the river behind the clock tower. One of the first secular schools in Bulgaria was built on Capitan Diado Nikola Square. Another symbol of Tryavna is the St. Archangel Mihael Church, situated in the town center and built in the late 12th century after Bulgarian tzar Asen defeated Byzantine emperor Isaac II. The wood-carved iconostasis and the bishop's throne in the church are real masterpieces of the woodcarving in Tryavna. Next to the school, is the Raykov house with its ethnographic collection, which is the birthplace of the first Bulgarian chemist, Pencho Nikolov Raikov. Not far away from it is the museum-house of Angel Kanchev who was Vassil Levski's compatriot. One of the most visited museums in Tryavna is the Daskalov house built in 1808. The museum features the famous wood carved suns. The house is a museum of woodcarving and icon painting art. The remarkable ceilings were made after a bet between two of the best masters of wood carving — Dimitar Oshanetsa and Ivan Bochukovetsa. The two masters worked hard for six months in the two largest rooms in the house without having the possibility to see each other's work. The Petko and Pencho Slaveykov museum-house, situated in the old part of the town, features an exposition of the poetical works of the two authors. The son, Pencho, was nominated for the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

but died before having a chance to win it. The Kalinchev house, also in the old part, has been transformed into an art gallery, offering the collection, donated by Totio Gybenski. The Museum of icon painting and woodcarving with its collection of over 160 original icons, painted by well-known masters, is housed in the Tsar's chapel at a distance of the town center. The unique Museum of Asian and African Art is housed in the old public bath, on the riverside. Tryavna is proud with its great samples of the woodcarving, icon painting and original architecture. Today the town is a preferred tourist spot, featuring modern hotels, private lodgings and villas, restaurants and taverns. There is also an Art school where successors of the old icon painters and woodcarvers master these crafts. The Voneshta voda village resort, famous for its healing mineral springs, is located away from Tryavna. The Bulgarka Nature Park is located in the Starina Planina, south on the city. The town is well connected with the whole country thanks to its excellent road network and railway station. Besides

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 ...

figures, another native is former Bulgarian

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player Georgi Glouchkov.

Population

Administrative partition

* Svetushka neighborhood * Kachaun neighborhood * Hitrevtsi

Education

* National High School for Applied Arts "Tryavna School" * Petko Slaveykov's School

Sport

* FC Tryavna * Basketball club Tryavna * Tennis club Tryavna * Tryavna Ultra * HV HAMMER TRYAVNA

Gallery

File:Trqvna.jpg File:Bulgaria Tryavna-01.jpg File:Bulgaria Tryavna-02.jpg File:Bulgaria Tryavna-03.jpg File:Bulgaria Tryavna-04.jpg File:Tryavna-Municipality-2007.jpg File:Rua e ponte em Tryavna, Bulgaria.jpg File:Tecto entalhado em madeira em Tryavna, Bulgaria.jpg File:Typical architecture of Tryavna.jpg File:Музей-Трявна.jpg File:Gymnasium Petko R Slaveikov Trjana.jpg File:Daskalova.JPG File:Love fountain in Trjavna.jpg File:Изглед-Трявна.jpg

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Since 2011 Tryavna is a member of the

Douzelage Douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union and the United Kingdom. Name The name is a portmanteau of the French words "douze" for twelve and "jumelage" for twinning and stands for t ...

, a unique

town twinning A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

association of 27 towns across the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Since 1994 Tryavna is also twinned with Brienz,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Honour

Tryavna Peak on

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetland Islands, South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands north of the ...

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 Tryavna.

References

External links

Tryavna municipality's home page

Tourist information and accommodation

Hotels in Tryavna

Facts about Tryavna municipality - cities and villages, maps, population, coordinates

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