Dryanovo (Дряново) is situated in the central part of the Forebalkan Mountain, on an area of 248,5 m2, with altitude varying from 180 to 640 m above sea level. In the municipality there is huge diversity of natural forms: magnificent mountain slopes covered with mixed broad-leaved woods , hills and rocks among which the waters of the rivers Yantra and Dryanovska are slowly floating. The climate in the region is moderately continental, with mild winter and warm and fresh summer, which makes Dryanovo a place suitable for holiday during the whole year. Dryanovo municipality is part of Gabrovo province. It includes the town of Dryanovo together with 62 small settlements. The town of Dryanovo could be easily reached by train ( the railway track Rousse-Podkova) or by car ( the main road Rousse-Stara Zagora). It lies on 22 km. from the city of Gabrovo with its ethnographical sites, 24 km. from the Medieval capital of Bulgaria- Veliko Tarnovo, 17 km. from the town of Tryavna , famous with its architectural ensembles, 34 km. from the town of Sevlievo.
The archaeological researches has found traces of pre-historical cultures proving that the natural treasures of Dryanovo region were evaluated even in the Old Stone Age (100 000 – 10 000 years before Crist).
All the travelers , who had visited Dryanovo in the past, were impressed by the industry and the virtues of the people as well as of the European outlook of the town. The houses in Dryanovo were two or three storeyed, whitewashed, with stone roofs and gardens full of flowers. The streets were clean, covered with pebbles and decorated with a lot of greenery , echoed by the sound of the old clock tower. Contemporary Dryanovo has preserved its traditions and its historical and cultural values and today it is an administrative, economic, educational and cultural center of the municipality which constantly develops.
Transport
Bus and railway transport connect the town with the country. There are regular bus lines to Gabrovo, Veliko Turnovo, Tryavna and other smaller settlements within the region. The bus station (1, Pop Hariton Street, tel.: 0676 2045) and the railway station (8, Zheleznicharska Street, tel.: 0676 3209) are located one opposite the other, on the two banks of the river (the bus station is on the left bank and the railway station is on the right bank of the river), in the southern part of the town. Dryanovo is a station of the main railway line Rousse – Gorna Oryahovitsa – Stara Zagora - Podkova.
Popular attractions
Very interesting landmark is Kolyo Ficheto Museum, which presents the lifework and the collections of one of the most prominent master builders of the National revival period. Among the works of the builder are the three-nave “St. Nicholas” Church and the old-time bridge of Dryanovo. Another worth to be visited landmark is Drayanovska Charshiya. It represents a marketplace, where a variety of revival period houses with workshops are situated. The Holy Trinity Church,, the clock tower and the Art Gallery are preserved in the complex.
History
Remnants of the cultures of the Thracians and of the Romans also exist . During 2nd century the citizens of Augusta Trayana ( the old name of Stara Zagora) founded one of the main market places on the South of the river Danube , near the village of Slavejkovo, Dryanovo Municipality. It became an important commercial and transport center. During the early Byzantine epoch Dryanovo was on the way to five mountain passageways of strategic military and economic importance. During VI century in the region of Dryanovo there were about eight fortifications, which were part of the Roman fortification system. Later on in XII century the region became an important part of the protective and defensive line of the old Bulgarian capital-Veliko Tarnovo. The town of Dryanovo was mentioned in historical documents for the first time in 1470. According to the tax registers of the Ottoman Empire from the second half of XV century, Dryanovo was a “vakaf” ( free of taxes hereditary land) owned by Kasam Pasha – an eminent commander and co ruler of the European part of the Ottoman Empire. During that time the citizens of Dryanovo outnumber 500 people, only 38 of them were Bulgarian families. In the middle of XVI century the Christian families were 242, while the Mohammedan families only 6. In XVII century the number of the people was doubled and in XIX century it increased even more. According to the periodicals of that time , in 1872 in the municipality lived 4269 Bulgarian families and 164 Mohammedan families.
For many centuries the people of Dryanovo guarded the mountain passageways and roads of central “Stara Planina “ mountain for which the Ottoman rulers gave them some privileges and a special tax statute. Geographically and economically Dryanovo from the period of the Enlightenment (XVIII-XIX century) was one of the places where the transition to modern sociopolitical and cultural ideas started for the first time. It turned into a radical and dynamically developing town with citizens whose way of life and whose way of thinking was typically urban. Although they were engaged in agriculture, their main income came from crafts and commerce. Since the middle of XVIII century the professional associations of the builders and of the shoemakers became really prosperous and socially active . Popular were also the professions of the butchers, the traders, the tailors, the weavers, the smiths and the carters. The merchants from Dryanovo supplied the Ottoman army with meat and other products, they exported to silkworms and cocoons Italy and France. The Dryanovians -Tsachevi brothers managed the biggest import-export company in Bulgaria in the first half of XIX century. Dryanovo was famous as the birth place of many talented master builders known not only in the country but also abroad. Their follower Kolyu Ficheto ( 1800-1881) became the pride of classical Bulgarian architecture. In XIX century the representatives of the Dryanovo middle-class were extremely well-to-do and with high national spirits. They supported the movement for secular education and financed the foundation of three communal and one private school as well as of three churches. They founded the first cultural institution in Dryanovo - community center “ Obstij Trud”, in 1869. Since the middle of XIX century the people of Dryanovo were strongly influenced by democratic and revolutionary ideas. Some craftsmen, traders and intellectuals organized a revolutionary committee in Dryanovo in 1870 and took part in the revolts and the uprisings for the national liberation of Bulgaria. They were most active during the Russian-Turkish war ( 1877-1878), when hundreds of people help the Russian army and 150 people went to the front as volunteers. All the travelers , who had visited Dryanovo in the past, were impressed by the industry and the virtues of the people as well as of the European outlook of the town. The houses in Dryanovo were two or three storeyed, whitewashed, with stone roofs and gardens full of flowers. The streets were clean, covered with pebbles and decorated with a lot of greenery , echoed by the sound of the old clock tower. Contemporary Dryanovo has preserved its traditions and its historical and cultural values and today it is an administrative, economic, educational and cultural center of the municipality which constantly develops.
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