Tryavna

Tryavna (Bulgarian: Трявна) is a small town in the central part of the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria, near Gabrovo. It's famous for its preserved 19th century architecture (with over a 100 listed buildings, monuments, museums, and similar objects), as well as the continuing practice of traditional hand crafts. Historically, it's known as the birthplace of the Bulgarian writer Pencho Slaveykov (1866-1912) and the revolutionary Angel Kanchev (1850-1872).

Understand
Tryavna is nested in the valley of the eponymous small river, on the north slopes of the Balkan Mountains. The location has been inhabited since Thracian times, or for thousands of years, but the earliest definitive proof of the existence of the modern village dates to the 12th century, in the years around the conquest of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom by the Ottoman Turks.

During the period of Bulgarian National Revival, when Bulgarian society redefined itself in the 18th and 19th centuries during the Ottoman occupation, the town became 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. Another unusual feature was the use of stone roof tiles instead of the clay ones common elsewhere.

Climate
The city has a continental climate, owing to its position close to the Balkan Mountains and distance from the Black Sea. Tryavna has hot summers and cold, snowy winters — which is good for the popular sky resorts in the nearby Uzana area. This part of Bulgaria has all four seasons, although spring is brief and falls mainly in April. The average high daily temperature in summer is about 27°C and in winter about 4°C.

Get in
The town is well connected with the whole country thanks to its excellent road network and railway station.

By car
The town is on Route 609 and Route 552, which are the same road when they pass through Tryavna. Highway 55, running north-south, passes the town to the east and Highway 5 passes the village to the west.

By bus
A regular daily bus connect Tryavna with Sofia, though it runs only once a day. A bus runs back and forth from Tryavna to Gabrovo about 10 times a day during the week, and about half as often during the weekend.

By train
Tryavna is on a major north-south railway line and there are several trains from the major transport hub of Gorna Oryahovitsa, next to the historic town of Veliko Turnovo. From there, changes to trains from Sofia can be done. A few trains continues southwards to Stara Zagora and Dimitrovgrad. In the other direction, there are connections to Tryavna from theRuse, on the border with Romania. Additionally, the once-daily overnight train between Bucharest and Istanbul also calls here. Tickets and timetables are available at stations or at the website of national operator BDZ.



Get around
The town has its own small bus system, some taxis and marshrutkas. However, it is a comparatively small community and most of the historical and interesting areas are close enough to each other to be accessed on foot.

Do
A historical village and architectural preserve - the old buildings are maintained - Tryavna offers a lot to sight seers, photographers, people who enjoy shopping and similar activities. The town is also home to a number of galleries and museums, which art and artifacts from across the history of Bulgaria.

Buy
Tryavna offers a profusion of shopping opportunities, many of which cater to tourists, including shops selling sojourners, clothings, jewelry, arts and craft items and similar goods.



Eat




Drink
Drinking establishments are common in Bulgaria and Tryavna. Beer and alcohol are available at almost all coffee shops, restaurants and shops where food and refreshments are available. There are few establishments which serve only alcohol.

Go next
Hiking, biking and camping opportunities are widely available in the nearby Central Balkan National Park and in the Nature Park Bulgarka, itself home to Ethnographic Complex Etara, Dryanovo Monastery, Sokolski Monastery, Shipka Pass, and the Uzana area. The Bozhentsi Trail (Екопътека Боженци - Дряновски манастир) leads to the village and the Dryanovo Monastery.