The House Museums of Koprivshtitsa

When we first visited Koprivshtitsa in March last year we shared the colorful, historical village with a heavy snowstorm. We vowed to return and again see the place where the the April Uprising against the Ottoman rulers started in 1876. This time the weather cooperated, and we enjoyed visiting the well-preserved houses from that time that now serve as museums and reminders of that important era of Bulgarian history.


Above is the first museum we visited, the Oslekov House, built in the 1850s by one of Koprivshtitsa's wealthiest merchants. The uniforms for the Bulgarian rebels were sewn in Nenchko Oslekov's house. When the uprising failed, Oslekov was captured by the Turks and hung.


The house above is that of Bulgarian poet Dimcho Debelianov. Debelianov comes from a different period of Koprivshtitsa's history; he was killed at the age of 29 in World War I.


Pictured above is Lyutov's House. It was bought by local merchant Petko Lyutov in the early 1900s.



Above is the home of Georgi Benkovski, one of the leaders of the April Uprising. Below is a picture of me next to Benkovski's statue.



Above and below is the Karavelov House, home to journalist and printer Lyuben Karavelov and Bulgarian politician Petko Karavelov.

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