Etur

Etura is one of the most interesting places you can see in Bulgaria. It is an architectural example which exihibits the typical Bulgarian houses and workshops from the eighteen and the nineteenth centuries. The museum was founded in 1964 thanks to a man named Lazar Donkov.

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He initiated the project, which we now know as the beautiful architectural museum of Etar. It is situated only eight kilometers away from the town of Gabrovo, so if you ever want to visit Etar and prefer to sleep there, you might as well choose a hotel in Gabrovo. I think it will be quite cheap.

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You enter Etar and the first thing you will see is an open-air market. All sorts of peculiar hand craftet objects are being sold there. You can buy traditional wooden pots, plates (not the best words though), musical instruments, clay objects, handmade knives, and tons of cool souveniers. Then you can try to make your own clay dishes.

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There would be an expert who would show you how. Inside the village itself you will find very interesting buildings. They show you how things worked in the Bulgarian village some hundred or two hundred years ago. There are, for example stuff like a mill, tochilo, gavanka, tepavitsa, valyanka, etc. Nice words, right? Tepavitsa, for example, had an important role in the production of clothing. It used water to make the clothing stronger.

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Valiyavitsa was a big washing machine. No kidding, you can see what Bulgarian villagers used in order to wash their clothes. The rest of the equipment you migh see has similar purposes. For example, the tochilo was used to sharpen knives. People used natural forces, such as water and fire to improve their lives. It is really cool to see. There is a small building in which the villagers would light a fire and would put fruit, such as plums. The plums would not toutch the fire, but would dry thanks to the smoke. So, in some villages, people actually had a system to dry fruit.

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There is a tiny river passing through the village. Nice little bridges form part of the beautiful atmosphere of Etar. There is a sort of a central part, where you can find nice workshops and shops. There are peculiar things, such as an icon painter. What does it mean? Well, the official religion in Bulgaria is Christian Orthodox. The churches here are full of icons or images of saints, Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary. Drawing an icon is a very hard task because there are certain rules icon master have to obey.

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The images are prolonged and the features of the faces of the saints have to be drawn in a particular way. I bet you will like seeing how it is done. It is interesting. Besides, all of the crafts you can see in Etar are unique and have almost disappeared. That is why this historical and cultural center is so important. It exhibits and explains to both Bulgarians and foreigners some Bulgarian traditions and customs.

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