Crafts Museum in Troyan

The specialized Museum of Folk Crafts and Applied Arts in the town of Troyan (central Bulgaria) is one of its kind in Bulgaria. It is an institute for gathering, keeping and development of the local folk arts. The museum not only collects, keeps and restores wonderful collections of pottery and metals, traditional folk cloths and dresses, wood-made articles, etc., but it also studies and popularizes through its scientific issues the folk arts and history of the region. A total of 131,326 exhibits are kept in the museum. The oldest exhibits in the museum date from 10-9th century B.C. As early as the National Revival the town of Troyan became famous for the craft skills of its citizens. The local pottery at the time was mainly in warm colours – yellow, brown, green, but later in 20th century the traditional tonality was varied reaching different variants of the Troyan pattern. The woodworking also brought great fame to the Troyan masters. The woodcarvers of Novo Selo (now the town of Apriltsi) made the iconostases, the holy gates and the stalls in a number of churches and monasteries. Beside these crafts, the museum also exhibits metal-processing and artistic crafts. The Troyan many-colored rug and the fleecy rug, decorated with flowers, are particularly famous. Near the museum, the newly constructed Crafts Street is located. Works of famous local masters are exposed here. It is the first stage of the Ethnographic Trade-Craft Complex Charshiyata that is currently under construction.