Medven Village

The Village of Medven is the birthplace of Zahari Stoyanov. It is located in the picturesque Kotel Valley, about 14 km eastwards from the Zheravna and 22 km southeastwards from the city of Kotel. North from Medven is also Boril Mound. The legend say that there the treasure of Bulgarian Tzar Boril has been buried. The entrance to the mound has been an old well. On the well’s bottom there has been a gallery and behind a massive iron door the treasury consisting of lots of gold, silver and precious stones has been kept. It is believed that Boril’s crown, scepter, golden cross and a golden sword are still kept in a marble chest. Every single house in the village of Medven is considered a national cultural monument. Most of the houses are built in the typical Kotel’s Renaissance style as the two-storey houses were built about 150 years ago. Everything in the village of Medven is authentic as every house and tavern is covered with rags and colorful “tcherga”. Whenever a new house was built it was always chosen a site surrounded with elm-trees. Nowadays there are about 400 houses in the village with their traditional plank walls and little bow windows. 168 houses are proclaimed as national cultural monuments and are protected by the state.