today, on 21st of may, we mourn and remember the victims of the caucasian war and of the circassian genocide.

in 1864, this day was marked by a military parade in honor of the victory in the battle of qbaada and the annexation of circassia by the russian empire.

i have a long twitter thread from last year where i gave a brief description of what happened, but mostly i tried to give a little insight into who my people are, to get the world to know what our culture is. it's in russian and i wonder if i should translate it.

Circassian Day of Mourning (May 21)

On the day of the end of the Russian-Caucasian war of 1763–1864, on the day of memory and sorrow of the Circassians, we publish another album-manifesto from Jrpjej. In addition to music, the album is accompanied by a pdf-zine with our reflection on Circassian songs of the 20th century and their relevance today “Sefitse” is a line from the song “Quedzoqo Tole Tsiku.” In the Adyghe language, “se”…

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1864 –Circassian Day of Mourning

Russia declares an end to the Russo-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile. The day is designated the .

During the Russo-Circassian War, the Russian Empire employed a genocidal strategy of massacring Circassian civilians. Only a small percentage who accepted Russification and resettlement within the Russian Empire were completely spared…

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Circassian,Russo,Pyotr Nikolayevich Gruzinsky,Zaidan, biography, Arthistory, Paintings, Artists, History, footnotes, fineart, war,

01 Work, The Art of War, Pyotr Nikolayevich Gruzinsky's The abandonment of the village by the mountaineers, with footnotes

Nikolai Gerene (1810 - not before 1871)

INTERIOR

1830

The watercolour by the Moscow artist Nikolai Gerene depicts the exotic “Oriental” interior of a room in a classical mansion. It is a clear manifestation of the passion for the East that arose in Russia at the end of the 18th century. In the 1820s and 1830s (during the Caucasian and Russo-Turkish wars) it reached a climax: there was a fashion for “Oriental” boudoirs, and Turkish smoking rooms or divan rooms.

Mediaeval suits of armour – helmets, a metal breastplate, chain armour and gloves – hang on the walls of the room decorated with the paisley motif. There are both European and Oriental weapons: round Asian shields, daggers, scimitars in scabbards, bows and quivers with arrows, war horns, saddles, stirrups and much more. In the room there is a wide sofa covered with lion and tiger skins; in front of it is a carpet decorated with arabesques. The master of the house is depicted on the sofa wearing a beshmet, a Circassian coat and a headdress typical of the North Caucasus. He is smoking a hookah, next to him is a tobacco-holder with an open lid. On both sides of the sofa, near the walls, there are pieces of furniture new to the Russian way of life: racks with long smoking pipes, Chibouks. At the sofa there is a pouffe with a pet monkey that peacefully coexists with a lap dog. A sea shell, a skull, and glass and porcelain vessels are placed on the shelf; Chinese vases stand on pedestals in the corners of the room.

The combination of the armoury room in the spirit of European chivalry with Oriental exotics testifies to the desire of the young and undoubtedly educated master of the house to follow the dictates of the latest fashion. It is no coincidence that the statuette of Napoleon in the next room noticed by the artist proves it. According to Pyotr Vyazemsky, “you inevitably come across it in the den of every curious and reflective contemporary”.

Tretyakov Gallery

something fascinating from Memoirs of an Arabian Princess by Emily Ruete

Salme (the author) was born in 1844, so her mother (Djilfidan) was likely born sometime in the early 1800s.

This was either during the Russo-Circassian war (i.e.: the Circassian genocide) or during its final stages. It lasted 145 years, so it's possible it broke out every few years, more than enough to seem sudden to a child.

"Arnaut" is a Turkish endonym for "Albanian", so either: #1. the marauders were very far from their native land. #2. or this Circassian family was already within the borders of the Ottoman empire, as many would be resettled there over the years.

Following theory #2, the marauders may well be кърджалии (kırcalı), and part of a wider, very destructive phenomenon in 18th and 19th century Rumelia

(Pictured above: a group of historical re-enactors dressed as a band of kırcalı)

'Circassian Prince at Constantinople' as painted in 1845 by Orientalist American painter Miner Kilbourne Kellogg (1814-1889). The full description of the painting is described as Portrait of Seferbiy Zanoko, Circassian aristocrat, diplomat, and military leader in traditional Circassian costume. Circassia was a small country on the North East shore of the black sea close to Georgia and South Ossetia.

Seferbiy Zaneqo (1798 - 1860) was a Circassian diplomat and military commander and fifth leader of the Circassian Confederation between 1859 and 1860. He took part in the Russo-Circassian War in both a military and a political capacity. As a diplomat he advocated for the Circassian cause in the west, and acted as an emissary of the Ottoman Empire in the region. By the end of his life Zaneqo was the leader of the Circassian resistance.

Between 1763 and 1864 Circassia was at war with the Russian Empire. Between 1800 and 1864 the Russians overran Circassia, and committed genocide on it's Muslim population. Georgia is the only country in the world to still classify what the Russians did to the Circassians as a genocide.

"The population of the Adyghe (Circassian) sub-ethnic groups before the start of the Russo-Caucasian War and 5 years after its end"

Events 5.21

293 – Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Galerius as Caesar to Diocletian, beginning the period of four rulers known as the Tetrarchy. 878 – Syracuse, Sicily, is captured by the Muslim Aghlabids after a nine-month siege. 879 – Pope John VIII gives blessings to Branimir of Croatia and to the Croatian people, considered to be international recognition of the Croatian state. 996 – Sixteen-year-old Otto III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. 1349 – Dušan's Code, the constitution of the Serbian Empire, is enacted by Dušan the Mighty. 1403 – Henry III of Castile sends Ruy González de Clavijo as ambassador to Timur to discuss the possibility of an alliance between Timur and Castile against the Ottoman Empire. 1554 – Queen Mary I grants a royal charter to Derby School, as a grammar school for boys in Derby, England. 1659 – In the Concert of The Hague, the Dutch Republic, the Commonwealth of England and the Kingdom of France set out their views on how the Second Northern War should end. 1660 – The Battle of Long Sault concludes after five days in which French colonial militia, with their Huron and Algonquin allies, are defeated by the Iroquois Confederacy. 1674 – The nobility elect John Sobieski King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. 1703 – Daniel Defoe is imprisoned on charges of seditious libel. 1725 – The Order of St. Alexander Nevsky is instituted in Russia by Empress Catherine I. It would later be discontinued and then reinstated by the Soviet government in 1942 as the Order of Alexander Nevsky. 1758 – Ten-year-old Mary Campbell is abducted in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War. She is returned six and a half years later. 1792 – A lava dome collapses on Mount Unzen, near the city of Shimbara on the Japanese island of Kyūshū, creating a deadly tsunami that killed nearly 15,000 people. 1809 – The first day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling between the Austrian army led by Archduke Charles and the French army led by Napoleon I of France sees the French attack across the Danube held. 1851 – Slavery in Colombia is abolished. 1856 – Lawrence, Kansas is captured and burned by pro-slavery forces. 1863 – American Civil War: The Union Army succeeds in closing off the last escape route from Port Hudson, Louisiana, in preparation for the coming siege. 1864 – Russia declares an end to the Russo-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile. The day is designated the Circassian Day of Mourning. 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House ends. 1864 – The Ionian Islands reunite with Greece. 1871 – French troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting. By the close of "Bloody Week", some 20,000 communards have been killed and 38,000 arrested. 1871 – Opening of the first rack railway in Europe, the Rigi Bahnen on Mount Rigi. 1879 – War of the Pacific: Two Chilean ships blocking the harbor of Iquique (then belonging to Peru) battle two Peruvian vessels in the Battle of Iquique. 1881 – The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton in Washington, D.C. 1894 – The Manchester Ship Canal in the United Kingdom is officially opened by Queen Victoria, who later knights its designer Sir Edward Leader Williams. 1904 – The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris. 1911 – President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz and the revolutionary Francisco Madero sign the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez to put an end to the fighting between the forces of both men, concluding the initial phase of the Mexican Revolution. 1917 – The Imperial War Graves Commission is established through royal charter to mark, record, and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of the British Empire's military forces. 1917 – The Great Atlanta fire of 1917 causes $5.5 million in damages, destroying some 300 acres including 2,000 homes, businesses and churches, displacing about 10,000 people but leading to only one fatality (due to heart attack). 1924 – University of Chicago students Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr. murder 14-year-old Bobby Franks in a "thrill killing". 1927 – Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. 1932 – Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, and she thereby becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. 1934 – Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first municipality in the United States to fingerprint all of its citizens. 1936 – Sada Abe is arrested after wandering the streets of Tokyo for days with her dead lover's severed genitals in her handbag. Her story soon becomes one of Japan's most notorious scandals. 1937 – A Soviet station, North Pole-1, becomes the first scientific research settlement to operate on the drift ice of the Arctic Ocean. 1939 – The Canadian National War Memorial is unveiled by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 1946 – Physicist Louis Slotin is fatally irradiated in a criticality incident during an experiment with the demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory. 1951 – The opening of the Ninth Street Show, otherwise known as the 9th Street Art Exhibition: A gathering of a number of notable artists, and the stepping-out of the post war New York avant-garde, collectively known as the New York School. 1961 – American civil rights movement: Alabama Governor John Malcolm Patterson declares martial law in an attempt to restore order after race riots break out. 1966 – The Ulster Volunteer Force declares war on the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland. 1969 – Civil unrest in Rosario, Argentina, known as Rosariazo, following the death of a 15-year-old student. 1972 – Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal, the mentally disturbed Hungarian geologist Laszlo Toth. 1976 – Twenty-nine people are killed in the Yuba City bus disaster in Martinez, California. 1979 – White Night riots in San Francisco following the manslaughter conviction of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk. 1981 – The Italian government releases the membership list of Propaganda Due, an illegal pseudo-Masonic lodge that was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries. 1981 – Transamerica Corporation agrees to sell United Artists to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $380 million after the box office failure of the 1980 film Heaven's Gate. 1982 – Falklands War: A British amphibious assault during Operation Sutton leads to the Battle of San Carlos. 1988 – Margaret Thatcher holds her controversial Sermon on the Mound before the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 1991 – Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a female suicide bomber near Madras. 1991 – Mengistu Haile Mariam, president of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, flees Ethiopia, effectively bringing the Ethiopian Civil War to an end. 1992 – After 30 seasons Johnny Carson hosted his penultimate episode and last featuring guests (Robin Williams and Bette Midler) of The Tonight Show. 1994 – The Democratic Republic of Yemen unsuccessfully attempts to secede from the Republic of Yemen; a war breaks out. 1996 – The ferry MV Bukoba sinks in Tanzanian waters on Lake Victoria, killing nearly 1,000. 1998 – In Miami, five abortion clinics are attacked by a butyric acid attacker. 1998 – President Suharto of Indonesia resigns following the killing of students from Trisakti University earlier that week by security forces and growing mass protests in Jakarta against his ongoing corrupt rule. 2000 – Nineteen people are killed in a plane crash in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. 2001 – French Taubira law is enacted, officially recognizing the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity. 2003 – The 6.8 Mw  Boumerdès earthquake shakes northern Algeria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). More than 2,200 people were killed and a moderate tsunami sank boats at the Balearic Islands. 2005 – The tallest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka opens at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey. 2006 – The Republic of Montenegro holds a referendum proposing independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro; 55% of Montenegrins vote for independence. 2010 – JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, launches the solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS aboard an H-IIA rocket. The vessel would make a Venus flyby late in the year. 2011 – Radio broadcaster Harold Camping predicted that the world would end on this date. 2012 – A bus accident near Himara, Albania kills 13 people and injures 21 others. 2012 – A suicide bombing kills more than 120 people in Sana'a, Yemen. 2014 – Random killings occurred on the Bannan Line of the Taipei MRT, killing four and injuring 24. 2017 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performed their final show at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Rhodope architecture

Tourist attractions: The District History Museum, the Art Gallery, monuments of Rhodope architecture from the National Revival period such as the Pangalov House, I860, which has an ethnographic collection, the AUbeev Police Station, the Shere- metev and Petko Takov Houses.

The only feudal building preserved in Bulgaria — Agoushev House in the village of Mogilitsa, 28 km southwest of Smolyan in the valley of the River Arda.

Hotels: Smolyan, 3 stars, 5 floors, 169 double rooms and 7 suites; restaurant, day bar, night club, national restaurant, hairdresser’s, coffee shop, free shop, parking lot, rent-a-car office, tel. 3-81-76, Sokolitsa, 2 stars 10 floors, accommodating 194, tel. 3-30-85; Orfei, 3 stars, tel 3-20-41, accommodating 170, restaurants and a national restaurant private turkey tours.

Smolyan lakes are north of the town amidst picturesque rocks and coniferous forests. There is a modern chalet accommodating 80.

The village of Shiroka Luka (pop. 2,000), is an architectural and ethnographic reserve. Particularly interesting here are the Sgourov House, Kalamdji House (with an ethnographic collection), the Kirov Houses, the old bridges, Church of the Assumption, 1834.

The village has a folk-music school, There is a restaurant, a national taverna and tourist chalet.

PLOVDIV – HASKOVO – HARMAN LI – SVILENGRAD- KAPITAN ANDREEVO

Among the valley of the Maritsa River, three km from Plovdiv stands the monument to Olga Nikolaevna Skobeleva, mother of the famous Russian General Skobelev who fought m the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War of Liberation, who came to Bulgaria to organize orphanages, hospitals and charity societies and who was murdered near Plovdiv by a band of Circassian brigands on 6 July 1880. The monument marks the spot.

Between Plovdiv and Sadovo is the Trakiya motel, 2 stars, and Chaiya camp site, 2 stars.

The village of Klokotnitsa lies ten km from the town of Haskovo and here in 1230 Bulgarian troops led by Tzar Ivan Assen II defeated the Epirate ruler Todor Komnin. The Bulgarian troops continued their advance and in a short time had captured Thrace of Adrianople, the Aegean region, the whole of Macedonia and Albania. In honour of this victory Tzar Ivan Assen II ordered a column to be erected in the Church of St Forty Martyrs in Turnovo. Shortly before Haskovo are the Iztok camp site and Klokotnitsa Inn.

Haskovo (pop. 84,117) existed in the 14th century as a trading settlement. A 9-12 century fortress has been discovered nearby. During Ottoman domination the town had only one Bulgarian quarter, near the Church of St Virgin Mary and the Church of St Archangel Michael After Bulgaria’s liberation from the Turks Haskovo developed as a major tobacco producing centre and today it is a large industrial centre.

Not boring in the slightest I would love to hear more about your book collection!! What are some of your favourites from each genre? 🖤

Hello! First of all, that's so sweet of you to say, thanks a lot! 💜 Going from top to bottom, my favourites

— From the "Medieval"/gothic collection (that i haven't read that much of yet tbh):

· "Ivanhoe" by Sir Walter Scott. It's very witty at times + I got some nice vocabulary and cultural references from the medieval setting out of it.

· "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole. Liked it mostly for making me re-think the whole morale of the "Maleficent" films (they're the only thing I talk about ever, sorry for somehow bringing it even here). I mean the whole underlying idea that descendants should pay for their ancestors' wrongs if they themselves escaped punishment. Realising that for many medieval people that kind of retribution might've been considered just and right put lot of things in an interesting perspective for me!

· "Fair Margaret" by Sir Henry Rider Haggard. I'm reading it rn and enjoying the characters and the plot so far, although I sometimes wish the author wouldn't just tell what the characters are like since I can already tell it from their speech and actions, hah.

· I also have a book of Celtic myths which I also enjoy a lot despite never remembering a single plot or name. 

— From foreign classics: 

· "The Phantom of the Opera" by Gaston Leroux. It was the first book I really enjoyed after a long period of not being able to bring myself to read, so it's special to me + I really liked the Persian, it's insane that he's not in the musical?? 

· "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontё. My #1 baby my favourite lady. I've read it a few times and every time I hate Mr Rochester more and love Jane more as well. 

— From foreign modern/contemporary literature: 

· "Flush" by Virginia Woolf. It's the only work of hers I've read so far, but I remember being in awe of just how colourful and almost tasty the descriptions are. And it's a very touching tale as well.

· "Martin Eden" by Jack London. *in keke palmer's voice* sorry to this man

· "Special Topics in Calamity Physics" by Marisha Pessl. A really well-done novel provided the author's intent was to make me absolutely fucking despise the main characters from the very first page. I think it was, so kudos to her.

— From Russian literature:

· "Oblomov" by Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov. Somehow is in Russian school curriculum and still underrated. I guess people dislike the main character too much to enjoy it; not me, though! I only hate Ilya Oblomov because he reminds me of myself too fucking much and this whole novel is dragging me and putting me in existential dread! 

· Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov's poetry of which I have three books. I am a Lermontov girlie it's true it's true. I think he is quite underrated internationally (that is to say, I wish he was as well-known in the world as Tolstoy or Dostoyevskiy). He is romantism at its finest.

— From Circassian literature (that I also hardly read anything from because most of what I have is in Circassian and I'm not nearly as fluent): 

· "The Millstones" by Isaac Mashbash. A historical novel about the time preceeding the Russo-Circassian war and the wartime itself. It was a difficult yet interesting read. I'm thinking of maybe re-reading it soon because it seems only fitting, considering what's happening right now has a lot of resemblance to what happens in the novel.

I think that's it! Sorry if it's too long! Again, thanks for asking!

Rhodope architecture

Tourist attractions: The District History Museum, the Art Gallery, monuments of Rhodope architecture from the National Revival period such as the Pangalov House, I860, which has an ethnographic collection, the AUbeev Police Station, the Shere- metev and Petko Takov Houses.

The only feudal building preserved in Bulgaria — Agoushev House in the village of Mogilitsa, 28 km southwest of Smolyan in the valley of the River Arda.

Hotels: Smolyan, 3 stars, 5 floors, 169 double rooms and 7 suites; restaurant, day bar, night club, national restaurant, hairdresser’s, coffee shop, free shop, parking lot, rent-a-car office, tel. 3-81-76, Sokolitsa, 2 stars 10 floors, accommodating 194, tel. 3-30-85; Orfei, 3 stars, tel 3-20-41, accommodating 170, restaurants and a national restaurant private turkey tours.

Smolyan lakes are north of the town amidst picturesque rocks and coniferous forests. There is a modern chalet accommodating 80.

The village of Shiroka Luka (pop. 2,000), is an architectural and ethnographic reserve. Particularly interesting here are the Sgourov House, Kalamdji House (with an ethnographic collection), the Kirov Houses, the old bridges, Church of the Assumption, 1834.

The village has a folk-music school, There is a restaurant, a national taverna and tourist chalet.

PLOVDIV – HASKOVO – HARMAN LI – SVILENGRAD- KAPITAN ANDREEVO

Among the valley of the Maritsa River, three km from Plovdiv stands the monument to Olga Nikolaevna Skobeleva, mother of the famous Russian General Skobelev who fought m the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War of Liberation, who came to Bulgaria to organize orphanages, hospitals and charity societies and who was murdered near Plovdiv by a band of Circassian brigands on 6 July 1880. The monument marks the spot.

Between Plovdiv and Sadovo is the Trakiya motel, 2 stars, and Chaiya camp site, 2 stars.

The village of Klokotnitsa lies ten km from the town of Haskovo and here in 1230 Bulgarian troops led by Tzar Ivan Assen II defeated the Epirate ruler Todor Komnin. The Bulgarian troops continued their advance and in a short time had captured Thrace of Adrianople, the Aegean region, the whole of Macedonia and Albania. In honour of this victory Tzar Ivan Assen II ordered a column to be erected in the Church of St Forty Martyrs in Turnovo. Shortly before Haskovo are the Iztok camp site and Klokotnitsa Inn.

Haskovo (pop. 84,117) existed in the 14th century as a trading settlement. A 9-12 century fortress has been discovered nearby. During Ottoman domination the town had only one Bulgarian quarter, near the Church of St Virgin Mary and the Church of St Archangel Michael After Bulgaria’s liberation from the Turks Haskovo developed as a major tobacco producing centre and today it is a large industrial centre.

Rhodope architecture

Tourist attractions: The District History Museum, the Art Gallery, monuments of Rhodope architecture from the National Revival period such as the Pangalov House, I860, which has an ethnographic collection, the AUbeev Police Station, the Shere- metev and Petko Takov Houses.

The only feudal building preserved in Bulgaria — Agoushev House in the village of Mogilitsa, 28 km southwest of Smolyan in the valley of the River Arda.

Hotels: Smolyan, 3 stars, 5 floors, 169 double rooms and 7 suites; restaurant, day bar, night club, national restaurant, hairdresser’s, coffee shop, free shop, parking lot, rent-a-car office, tel. 3-81-76, Sokolitsa, 2 stars 10 floors, accommodating 194, tel. 3-30-85; Orfei, 3 stars, tel 3-20-41, accommodating 170, restaurants and a national restaurant private turkey tours.

Smolyan lakes are north of the town amidst picturesque rocks and coniferous forests. There is a modern chalet accommodating 80.

The village of Shiroka Luka (pop. 2,000), is an architectural and ethnographic reserve. Particularly interesting here are the Sgourov House, Kalamdji House (with an ethnographic collection), the Kirov Houses, the old bridges, Church of the Assumption, 1834.

The village has a folk-music school, There is a restaurant, a national taverna and tourist chalet.

PLOVDIV – HASKOVO – HARMAN LI – SVILENGRAD- KAPITAN ANDREEVO

Among the valley of the Maritsa River, three km from Plovdiv stands the monument to Olga Nikolaevna Skobeleva, mother of the famous Russian General Skobelev who fought m the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War of Liberation, who came to Bulgaria to organize orphanages, hospitals and charity societies and who was murdered near Plovdiv by a band of Circassian brigands on 6 July 1880. The monument marks the spot.

Between Plovdiv and Sadovo is the Trakiya motel, 2 stars, and Chaiya camp site, 2 stars.

The village of Klokotnitsa lies ten km from the town of Haskovo and here in 1230 Bulgarian troops led by Tzar Ivan Assen II defeated the Epirate ruler Todor Komnin. The Bulgarian troops continued their advance and in a short time had captured Thrace of Adrianople, the Aegean region, the whole of Macedonia and Albania. In honour of this victory Tzar Ivan Assen II ordered a column to be erected in the Church of St Forty Martyrs in Turnovo. Shortly before Haskovo are the Iztok camp site and Klokotnitsa Inn.

Haskovo (pop. 84,117) existed in the 14th century as a trading settlement. A 9-12 century fortress has been discovered nearby. During Ottoman domination the town had only one Bulgarian quarter, near the Church of St Virgin Mary and the Church of St Archangel Michael After Bulgaria’s liberation from the Turks Haskovo developed as a major tobacco producing centre and today it is a large industrial centre.

Rhodope architecture

Tourist attractions: The District History Museum, the Art Gallery, monuments of Rhodope architecture from the National Revival period such as the Pangalov House, I860, which has an ethnographic collection, the AUbeev Police Station, the Shere- metev and Petko Takov Houses.

The only feudal building preserved in Bulgaria — Agoushev House in the village of Mogilitsa, 28 km southwest of Smolyan in the valley of the River Arda.

Hotels: Smolyan, 3 stars, 5 floors, 169 double rooms and 7 suites; restaurant, day bar, night club, national restaurant, hairdresser’s, coffee shop, free shop, parking lot, rent-a-car office, tel. 3-81-76, Sokolitsa, 2 stars 10 floors, accommodating 194, tel. 3-30-85; Orfei, 3 stars, tel 3-20-41, accommodating 170, restaurants and a national restaurant private turkey tours.

Smolyan lakes are north of the town amidst picturesque rocks and coniferous forests. There is a modern chalet accommodating 80.

The village of Shiroka Luka (pop. 2,000), is an architectural and ethnographic reserve. Particularly interesting here are the Sgourov House, Kalamdji House (with an ethnographic collection), the Kirov Houses, the old bridges, Church of the Assumption, 1834.

The village has a folk-music school, There is a restaurant, a national taverna and tourist chalet.

PLOVDIV – HASKOVO – HARMAN LI – SVILENGRAD- KAPITAN ANDREEVO

Among the valley of the Maritsa River, three km from Plovdiv stands the monument to Olga Nikolaevna Skobeleva, mother of the famous Russian General Skobelev who fought m the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War of Liberation, who came to Bulgaria to organize orphanages, hospitals and charity societies and who was murdered near Plovdiv by a band of Circassian brigands on 6 July 1880. The monument marks the spot.

Between Plovdiv and Sadovo is the Trakiya motel, 2 stars, and Chaiya camp site, 2 stars.

The village of Klokotnitsa lies ten km from the town of Haskovo and here in 1230 Bulgarian troops led by Tzar Ivan Assen II defeated the Epirate ruler Todor Komnin. The Bulgarian troops continued their advance and in a short time had captured Thrace of Adrianople, the Aegean region, the whole of Macedonia and Albania. In honour of this victory Tzar Ivan Assen II ordered a column to be erected in the Church of St Forty Martyrs in Turnovo. Shortly before Haskovo are the Iztok camp site and Klokotnitsa Inn.

Haskovo (pop. 84,117) existed in the 14th century as a trading settlement. A 9-12 century fortress has been discovered nearby. During Ottoman domination the town had only one Bulgarian quarter, near the Church of St Virgin Mary and the Church of St Archangel Michael After Bulgaria’s liberation from the Turks Haskovo developed as a major tobacco producing centre and today it is a large industrial centre.

Rhodope architecture

Tourist attractions: The District History Museum, the Art Gallery, monuments of Rhodope architecture from the National Revival period such as the Pangalov House, I860, which has an ethnographic collection, the AUbeev Police Station, the Shere- metev and Petko Takov Houses.

The only feudal building preserved in Bulgaria — Agoushev House in the village of Mogilitsa, 28 km southwest of Smolyan in the valley of the River Arda.

Hotels: Smolyan, 3 stars, 5 floors, 169 double rooms and 7 suites; restaurant, day bar, night club, national restaurant, hairdresser’s, coffee shop, free shop, parking lot, rent-a-car office, tel. 3-81-76, Sokolitsa, 2 stars 10 floors, accommodating 194, tel. 3-30-85; Orfei, 3 stars, tel 3-20-41, accommodating 170, restaurants and a national restaurant private turkey tours.

Smolyan lakes are north of the town amidst picturesque rocks and coniferous forests. There is a modern chalet accommodating 80.

The village of Shiroka Luka (pop. 2,000), is an architectural and ethnographic reserve. Particularly interesting here are the Sgourov House, Kalamdji House (with an ethnographic collection), the Kirov Houses, the old bridges, Church of the Assumption, 1834.

The village has a folk-music school, There is a restaurant, a national taverna and tourist chalet.

PLOVDIV – HASKOVO – HARMAN LI – SVILENGRAD- KAPITAN ANDREEVO

Among the valley of the Maritsa River, three km from Plovdiv stands the monument to Olga Nikolaevna Skobeleva, mother of the famous Russian General Skobelev who fought m the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War of Liberation, who came to Bulgaria to organize orphanages, hospitals and charity societies and who was murdered near Plovdiv by a band of Circassian brigands on 6 July 1880. The monument marks the spot.

Between Plovdiv and Sadovo is the Trakiya motel, 2 stars, and Chaiya camp site, 2 stars.

The village of Klokotnitsa lies ten km from the town of Haskovo and here in 1230 Bulgarian troops led by Tzar Ivan Assen II defeated the Epirate ruler Todor Komnin. The Bulgarian troops continued their advance and in a short time had captured Thrace of Adrianople, the Aegean region, the whole of Macedonia and Albania. In honour of this victory Tzar Ivan Assen II ordered a column to be erected in the Church of St Forty Martyrs in Turnovo. Shortly before Haskovo are the Iztok camp site and Klokotnitsa Inn.

Haskovo (pop. 84,117) existed in the 14th century as a trading settlement. A 9-12 century fortress has been discovered nearby. During Ottoman domination the town had only one Bulgarian quarter, near the Church of St Virgin Mary and the Church of St Archangel Michael After Bulgaria’s liberation from the Turks Haskovo developed as a major tobacco producing centre and today it is a large industrial centre.

Rhodope architecture

Tourist attractions: The District History Museum, the Art Gallery, monuments of Rhodope architecture from the National Revival period such as the Pangalov House, I860, which has an ethnographic collection, the AUbeev Police Station, the Shere- metev and Petko Takov Houses.

The only feudal building preserved in Bulgaria — Agoushev House in the village of Mogilitsa, 28 km southwest of Smolyan in the valley of the River Arda.

Hotels: Smolyan, 3 stars, 5 floors, 169 double rooms and 7 suites; restaurant, day bar, night club, national restaurant, hairdresser’s, coffee shop, free shop, parking lot, rent-a-car office, tel. 3-81-76, Sokolitsa, 2 stars 10 floors, accommodating 194, tel. 3-30-85; Orfei, 3 stars, tel 3-20-41, accommodating 170, restaurants and a national restaurant private turkey tours.

Smolyan lakes are north of the town amidst picturesque rocks and coniferous forests. There is a modern chalet accommodating 80.

The village of Shiroka Luka (pop. 2,000), is an architectural and ethnographic reserve. Particularly interesting here are the Sgourov House, Kalamdji House (with an ethnographic collection), the Kirov Houses, the old bridges, Church of the Assumption, 1834.

The village has a folk-music school, There is a restaurant, a national taverna and tourist chalet.

PLOVDIV – HASKOVO – HARMAN LI – SVILENGRAD- KAPITAN ANDREEVO

Among the valley of the Maritsa River, three km from Plovdiv stands the monument to Olga Nikolaevna Skobeleva, mother of the famous Russian General Skobelev who fought m the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War of Liberation, who came to Bulgaria to organize orphanages, hospitals and charity societies and who was murdered near Plovdiv by a band of Circassian brigands on 6 July 1880. The monument marks the spot.

Between Plovdiv and Sadovo is the Trakiya motel, 2 stars, and Chaiya camp site, 2 stars.

The village of Klokotnitsa lies ten km from the town of Haskovo and here in 1230 Bulgarian troops led by Tzar Ivan Assen II defeated the Epirate ruler Todor Komnin. The Bulgarian troops continued their advance and in a short time had captured Thrace of Adrianople, the Aegean region, the whole of Macedonia and Albania. In honour of this victory Tzar Ivan Assen II ordered a column to be erected in the Church of St Forty Martyrs in Turnovo. Shortly before Haskovo are the Iztok camp site and Klokotnitsa Inn.

Haskovo (pop. 84,117) existed in the 14th century as a trading settlement. A 9-12 century fortress has been discovered nearby. During Ottoman domination the town had only one Bulgarian quarter, near the Church of St Virgin Mary and the Church of St Archangel Michael After Bulgaria’s liberation from the Turks Haskovo developed as a major tobacco producing centre and today it is a large industrial centre.