Tryavna, in Central Bulgaria, is famous for wood carving and many of the houses from the Tryavna architectural school, now house small museums. On a Monday, many were closed but fortunately one of the two open was the Daskalov House Museum, which I was keen to visit. It was built in 1808 for the sons of Hadzhi Hristo Daskalov by two craftsmen, Dimitur Oshanets and his apprentice Ivan Bochukovetsa. They had a bet on who could make the most beautiful ceiling and for six months they worked on sun ceilings and as a result, it became known as the House of the Suns. Whilst the outcome has not survived the passage of time, they were both magnificent and it was hard to decide which we preferred. As well as these two rooms complete with period furniture, there were fabulous icons, carved warriors and a replica of a wood carvers workshop complete with tools. In total contrast the garden contained several modern quirky wooden sculptures. During our visit there were only three other people, and it was great value at 3 Lev or £1.30 for retirees – half the regular price.
Others, like the Slaveykov and Raykov houses were closed and had to be admired from the exterior.
The small town was imminently walkable however, despite our map with its 14 cultural and historical sights, we didn’t find it easy to navigate as all the narrow cobbled streets had signs on beautifully carved wooden boards in Cyrillic only (Bulgaria is the only EU country to use the Cyrillic alphabet).
There were two churches open, and we visited the low slate-roofed Church of St Michael the Archangel which sat in an attractive square, a short distance from a narrow pedestrian, stone-arch bridge built in 1844, and nearby the clock tower, the emblem of Tryavna.
The town is also noted for its Icon Painting Museum School but unfortunately it was closed as was the Asian and African Art Museum which I’d also been keen to visit.
On arrival, we stopped at the beautiful looking Tavern Trevnenski Kat, and sat at wooden picnic benches and tables overlooking the central square, drinking large draft Staropramen for the remarkable price of 4 Lev or £1.80.
Sightseeing over, we returned to the Tavern and enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine along with a half-litre jug of white wine.
Having checked out the menu, we returned for a third time in the evening, as many places were closed either because it was Monday, or approaching the end of the season. As the door was kept open, we sat in our fleeces, but at least there were a few other couples contributing to the atmosphere. We were pleased the menu was also in English to inadvertently avoid ordering a hot starter of ‘boneless lamb head’ or mains of ‘beef veins in pot’ or ‘pigs ear in brine’. We felt we couldn’t go wrong with Ovcharska Salad, which we discovered was the traditional Bulgarian shopska salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and cheese) with the addition of mushrooms, eggs, and ham. To follow we chose chicken baked under a lid which turned out to be a clay pot full of succulent pieces of chicken breast, lardons and mushrooms in a light jus, topped with melted cheese. It was light with no carbs, full of meat and went well with the salad. We also had two half-litre jugs of white wine and with two small bottles of water the bill came to 53.60 Lev or £23.39. By the time we had finished, we were the only customers left and it was clear that the couple who served us, who would have benefited from a weekend charm school, were waiting for us to leave before closing up at 9pm.
We enjoyed our one night in this delightful quiet little town, but suspect in the main season, it would be a totally different story.
