The town of Arbanassi

The world-famous old museum town of Arbanassi is located on the high Arbanassi plateau, some 4 km away from the town of Veliko Tarnovo. The specific houses and richly decorated churches, dating back to the 16-18th century, make Arbanassi one of the most original and picturesque towns in Bulgaria, annually attracting many tourists, scientists, archeologists. The place was declared a resort by a royal decree in 1921, and in 2000 it obtained statute of “historical settlement” of national significance. The scarce documentary materials available about the place leave room for various opinions and presumptions regarding the origin, name and population of Arbanassi. Some think it was first settled by Bulgarian boyars, who came here together with their peasants from the farthest western regions, following the victory of Ivan Asen II in the battle in Klokotnitza on March 9 1230, when he conquered the Arbanassi land. Rakovski wrote that Ivan Asen II, after marrying the daughter of the captured sir Todor Komnin, deported a number of Greek families to these places because of her. Arbanassi’s history is rich, and the names of its residents are included in many heroic chronicles. But what has reached us through the years and astonishes us with its beauty, skill, and taste, are the preserved 144 richly decorated houses, 5 churches and 2 monasteries. The two most interesting houses are the Kostantzalieva house and the Hadjidimlieva house. The oldest and most picturesque church in the museum town is Rozhdestvo Hristovo (The Birth of Christ).