Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The 19th-century revolutionary leader, Vasil Levski, formed and trained insurgents
here, and urged the monks themselves to fight the Turks in 1876. This history is high-
lighted in the small 3rd-floor
museum
(Trojan Monastery; admission 4 lv; Open on
request)
. The door is usually locked, but reception office staff can open it.
Troyan Monastery is not as touristy as Rila Monastery, though it does have several
cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops and art galleries around it.
Ask at the reception office for rooms; basic but expensive (doubles 60 lv), they some-
times require advance booking.
Monastirska Bara
( 0888798591; mains 2-8 lv; 8am-midnight)
is a simple
me-
hana
next to the monastery for quick eats.
Getting There & Away
The hourly Troyan-Cherni Osêm bus stops at the monastery gates. A taxi from Troyan to
the monastery costs about 10 lv one way. Most taxi drivers will return at a specified time
to bring you back.
KOPRIVSHTITSA
Quiet Koprivshtitsa (Ko-priv-shti-tsa) is a well-preserved 'museum village' filled with gorgeous National Revival
mansions. Although it's much more accessible from Sofia than from other central or southern Bulgarian hubs, the
village is very definitely part of the central heartland; it was the place where revolutionary Todor Kableshkov de-
clared an uprising against the Turks on 20 April 1876, from Kalachev Bridge (also called Kableshkov Bridge).
Koprivshtitsa once had 12,000 residents, rivalling Sofia, but after 1878 and independence, many of its merchants,
sheepherders and intellectuals left for the cities; the village remained essentially unchanged, and the post-WWII
communist governments declared it variously a 'town-museum' and a 'historical reserve'.
Today, Koprivshtitsa's few streets are dotted with historic homes interrpersed with rambling, overgrown lanes,
making it a romantic getaway and a safe and fun place for children.
Koprivshtitsa boasts six house-museums. Some are closed either on Monday or Tuesday (all operate Wednesday
through Sunday). To buy a combined ticket for all (adults/students 5/3 lv) visit the souvenir shop
Kupchinitsa
(near
the Tourist Information Centre).
Of these house-museums, the most worthwhile include the
Oslekov House
(ul Gereniloto 4; closed Mon),
built 1853-56, arguably the town's best example of Bulgarian National Revival architecture, with a triple-arched en-
