The Velyanova house in Bansko

The Velyanova house (the house of Velyan) is the best kept house in Bansko from the age of the Bulgarian Revival. It was built at the end of XVIII century and was given as a present by the local people to the famous painting master Velyan Ognev. He had arrived at the invitation of the nobles from Bansko to make the iconostasis of the church Holy Trinity. The house is two-storey, fortified in the typical style of the Revival era. The first floor has a stash consisting of two connected rooms. The second is the residential part, which consists of five rooms and a veranda. The whole building is made only of wood and stone. The most interesting and important part of the Velyanova house is the internal decoration, made by the master Velyan. The most beautiful wall-paintings are those in the Blue Room. There you can see landscapes of Venice and Istanbul. The veranda is decorated with beautiful wood-carving and another wood-carving in one of the rooms depicts geometric and plant figures. Since 1977 the house has been an architectural and ethnographic museum. Its wall paintings and decorations have been declared a cultural monument of national importance. The Velyanova house is included in the list of the 100 national tourist sites.