“Journey to the Past” – Day Five

Ethnographic village “Ethar”

 After the great day we spent in and around Silistra we headed to Gabrovo region. More precisely to our first scheduled stop – Ethnographic village “Ethar”. This place is unique for the Balkans and presents an authentic reconstruction of the typical time (XIX century) buildings. In the complex itself you can experience the processes of creating different types of objects due the preserved through centuries tradition of craftsmanship of metals, leather, clay and others. With the first step in the outdoors museum you will feel like going back in time and become part of the atmosphere itself. Atmosphere, soaked with long standing traditions, customs and crafts. The museum officially opened on September 7, 1964. In 1967 was declared a national ethnographic park and in 1971 was declared a cultural monument. To this day it is a place that brings people from all over the world and constantly attracts more curious visitors.

Useful information:
Hours: Summer: 08: 30-18: 00 , Winter: 08: 30-16: 30;
Price per visit 5.00 leva; student, student 2.00 leva; Retired 3.00 leva;
Ethar is completely under the open sky and offers the possibility of spending an unforgettable stroll;
You can buy original and unique artifacts (memories);
Starting from Gabrovo has numerous signs pointing to the complex;
Nearby settlements – Gabrovo 9 km, Tryavna 24 km;

Sokolski monastery

After we had a nice time in the museum we headed to the famous Sokolski monastery. This monastery dates from 1833 and preserved until today. It was originally male, but after destructive actions on nearby women monastery in the town of Gabrovo, the nuns moved here, making it in consequences for women. One of the most impressive sights here is the fountain of Kolyo Ficheto which is a circular shape with eight falcons.

Useful information:
You don’t need to pay any entrance;
In the monastery you can rent a room;
After reaching the complex “Ethara” there are signs to the monastery (the distance is only 4 km);
Close towns are Gabrovo 13 km, Tryavna 28 km;

Time progressed and we headed to our last stop of the day and generally last stop for “Holiday on the brink of summer” – Kazanlak. The area itself offers many adventure opportunities but with the limited time we had we chose the two most important for us –  Kazanluk tomb and the Museum of the Rose.

Kazanluk tomb

We headed to the tomb, which is located in the town of Kazanlak. This Thracian  sight is world famous because of perfectly preserved frescoes which are one of the few completely preserved from this ancient period. The original Tomb access is severely limited in order to preserve the paintings. But next to the original tomb there is a perfect copy of it depicted with all belonging elements and murals inside.

Useful information:
Work hours: May-November: 9:00 to 17:00 , seven days a week, from November to April the tomb opens only on request for large groups;
Entrance fee: adults – 3 leva, students – 1 lev;
Payable an extra 5 leva if you wish to shoot inside;
The tomb is a unique world heritage in human history!;
The murals are impressive and demonstrate the development of the Thracians;

Museum of the Rose

Ending with the Kazanlak tomb, we headed to the Museum of Roses. The very fact that this is the only museum in the world dedicated only to the rose, and its contribution to the culture of Bulgaria, makes it unique! Today, the museum Rose has a rich collection of objects, photographs and documents revealing the history of Bulgarian production of roses and rose oil. The exhibits are located in three areas. In the museum can be seen tools used in rose gardens, containers for storage and export of rose oil and water. A reconstruction has also been made of  a rose oil storage and the first laboratory for testing the purity of rose oil.

Useful information:
Hours: daily from 09:00 to 17:30 ;
Admission: adults – 6.00 leva, students – 2.00 leva;
The museum is a place for learning about customs associated with picking and processing of the Rose;

This is how we ended the day and our entire adventure “Holiday on the brink of summer”. Those were five unforgettable days full of emotions and breathtaking views. Days that I would not trade for anything, memorize every place I visited and will visit again! Once again I realized that the Bulgarian sights are extremely undervalued compared to all other European destinations.

Thanks to all who were part of this exciting adventure and thanks to all who follow me and read with interest!
There is still a lot of exciting adventures to follow!