Tryavna ( bg, Трявна ) is a town in central

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, situated in the northern slopes of the Balkan range, on the Tryavna river valley, near

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( bg, Габрово ) is a town in central northern Bulgaria, the 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 internatio ...

. It is famous for its

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...

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 Tryavna Municipality ( bg, Община Трявна) is a municipality ('' obshtina'') in Gabrovo Province, North-central Bulgaria, located on the northern slopes of the central Stara planina mountain to the area of the so-called Fore-Balkan. It ...

. As of December 2009, it has a population of 9,831 inhabitants.

History

The village was founded as early as the

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

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, from the conquest by the Ottoman Empire of the smaller kingdoms emerging from the disintegrating Second Bulgarian Empire in the late 14th century, to the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878. A ...

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 Isaac II Angelos or Angelus ( grc-gre, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός Ἄγγελος, ; September 1156 – January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204. His father Andronikos Doukas Angelos was a ...

. 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 ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

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 The Bulgarka Natural Park ( Bulgarian: Природен парк ″Българка″) is a Bulgarian nature park on the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina), occupying 22,000 hectares of territory in the central and eastern ...

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 National Revival ( bg, Българско национално възраждане, ''Balgarsko natsionalno vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and tr, Bulgar ulus canlanması) sometimes called the Bu ...

figures, another native is former Bulgarian NBA 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 The Douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union. The name is a portmanteau of the French words "douze" for twelve and "jumelage" for twinning and stands for the twelve founder member ...

, 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 inter ...

association of 27 towns across the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. Since 1994 Tryavna is also twinned with Brienz, Switzerland.

Honour

Tryavna Peak on

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...

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

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