The picturesque town of Tryavna is huddled in the northern folds of the Central Balkan Range, along the Tryavna River. The town lies halfway the Sofia-Varna route (250 km. away from each), 42 km southwest of Veliko Tarnovo, 170 km. from Plovdiv, 219 km. from Bourgas and 130 km. from Ruse. A good road and railroad network connects the town with all farther spots of the country.
     The relief is very diverse - from mountain to river valleys, hills and gorges. A substantial part of the municipality's territory is covered mainly with oak and beech forests. The farming land occupies almost half of the territory, most of which comprises of meadows and pastures. Tryavna enjoys a moderate and healthy climate characterized by cool summers and mild winters and all four seasons are suitable for tourism. The climate in Tryavna is suitable for treatment and recuperation of patients suffering from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The varied scenery, proven ecological factors, peace and quiet are sufficient prerequisites for active holidays and relaxation.
     Tryavna surprises and charms people with its natural beauty and with the Bulgarian revival spirit, which streams from each house, today changed into museum. Feeling the beauty, with faith towards centuries-old traditions and love towards the Bulgarian Heritage, the Tryavna masters gain popularity in the field of building, woodcarving and icon painting, which they handle to perfection and transform into art. Thus comes into being, develops and flourishes the oldest Renaissance Art School in Bulgaria - the Tryavna fine arts school. There are many places in Tryavna and in the surrounding vicinity where one can find the unique beauty of the Renaissance period.

     History

     According to the legend the settlement originated during the 12th century during the reign of the Assen Dynasty. The youngest brother Kaloyan erected the St. Archangel Michail Church in the area of Truvna (named after the resilient grass around), around which a whole village gradually grew up. During the Ottoman Rule Tryavna was a privileged settlement, whose inhabitants guarded the pass through the Balkan to Odrin and Istanbul. The settlement reached prosperity at the end of the 18th and at the beginning of the 19th century when the crafts, the applied arts and the trade established themselves on the market. The influence of the representatives of Tryavna Art School is strongly felt. Masons built beautiful houses, schools and churches. Icon-painters ornamented them with icons and mural paintings and joiners (woodcarvers) completed their work with unparalleled altars, ceilings and windows. Felix Kanits who visited the town in 1872 called in the "Bulgarian Nuernberg". A lot of Tryavna citizens took an active part in the struggles for an independent Bulgarian church, for national awareness and liberation. The town is the birthplace of Levski's associate Angel Kunchev. Petko R. Slaveikov lived there, too and his eminent son, the poet Pencho P. Slaveikov was born in Tryavna.
     The exceptionally healthy climate and the divine countryside of Tryavna made it a paramount resort as early as in 1896. Later on the first in our country children's sanatorium for chest diseases was built up here with a donation from Tsaritsa Ioana (wife of Tsar Boris III).

     Landmarks

     There are 140 protected National-Revival buildings, centered in three connected parts of the old town which is an architectural reserve and has been reconstructed as a result of The Beautiful Bulgaria Project due to which several Public buildings and museum-houses have been renovated. The town of Tryavna has preserved its old town square, the only one left in the country, which has been proclaimed as a Monument of Architecture.
     SHKOLOTO (the School) occupies the building of one of the earliest secular schools in Bulgaria; it houses various permanent exhibitions among which stands out the donation of the Bulgarian artist Dimitur Kazakov, celebrated in the world. On display are also, paintings by Ivan Hristov. Exhibits of extraordinary interest make up the collection Time Pieces and Measuring Equipment from the Middle Ages to the Turn of the 19th C. and the donation of 'Buddhist Art' donated by the sculptor ZlatkoPaounov.
     DASKALOV House is a museum of woodcarving. Built up in 1804, this architectural monument is of national consequence. The woodcarved ceilings evoke memories of the first-ever art competition held in Bulgaria. Who of the two master woodcarvers was the winner is for you to guess.
     THE TRYAVNA ICON-PAINTING SCHOOL - Museum treasures over 160 icons by old master icon painters, original instructions as regards the requirements of the Orthodox Eastern Church canon, and a complete set of icon-painting tools.
     RAIKOV House was put up in 1846; it is an epitome of both Tryavna school of architecture from the National Revival period and the then town lifestyle.
     PETKO and PENCHO SLAVEIKOV Museum-House preserves the interior of the home of the two remarkable Bulgarian intellectuals and men of letters.
     ANGEL KUNCHEV Museum-House is the home of a national hero from the anti-Turkish resistance; records of the revolutionary struggles of Tryavna people are on display too.
     KALINCHEV House is another masterpiece of National Revival architecture in Tryavna; constructed in 1830, it houses an exhibition of 500 paintings donated by collector Totyo Gubenski.
     ST. ARCHANGEL MICHAEL Church is an exceptionally valuable monument of culture dating back to the Middle Ages; it keeps an Old Cross with 12 scenes from the Bible wood-carved on it; the church iconostasis and the bishop's throne have been recognized as masterpieces of the Tryavna school of woodcarving.
     ST. GEORGE Church - Its construction is designed and supervised by the master builder Dimitur Sergyuv in the period 1848 - 1852. Tryavna masters painted the iconostasis and the icons.
     ART M Gallery offers guests and visitors of Tryavna paintings, small sculpture pieces, woodcarvings and souvenirs made by artists and craftsmen from the Balkan Mountains region.
     Every odd year on 26th and 27th May Slaveikov's Days are held here including various cultural events. The town is host of the unique in the country International Plain-Air Painting on Wood Plastics "Bet in Tryavna", which is held each year.

     Surrounding areas

     The resort village Voneshta voda is 20 km off Tryavna. The etymology of its name is associated with the odour of hydrogen sulphide released from a cold spa. The mineral water is used for therapy of locomotorium diseases, diseases of the cardiovascular and digestive systems, metabolism, skin and respiratory diseases.
     The recreation town of Plachkovtsi (at the distance of 7 km to the south of Tryavna) is an important point of departure for the Tryavna Balkan Mountain (refer to the Stara Planina related chapter herein). The natural phenomena Vikanata Skala (The Called Rock), Muhnatite Skali (the Mossy Rocks) and Stolishta are located here.
     The village of Bozhentsi - Architecture and Ethnographic Reserve - almost all the buildings here were built during the 18th and mainly during the 19th century in the typical of this region of Bulgaria Revival style. In Bozhentsi one is carried away into the past and finds out an unsuspected idyll and calmness among the spirituality of the old houses. There is a museum, too. Every year in the beginning of September the village hosts a plain-air "Autumn in Bozhentsi", and from June to September - an exhibition-bazaar of works of art is held there, too.