Samovodska Charshiya

The Samovodska Charshiya (Samovodska market place) in Veliko Tarnovo was established in the 60s-70s of 19th century, when the city started growing westwards. Two streets were formed with craft stores, workshops and inns. One of them began from a small square now known as the Samovodski market. During the years of the National Revival here stood the grocers’, the sandal makers’, the smiths’, and other market places, as well as the Hadji David’s, Hadji Velikov’s, and Atanas Jonooglu’s inns. The cloister of the Hilender monastery also was here. Even today the inn of Hadji Nikoli raises on the street that goes westwards from the Samovodski market and used to accommodate the crafts workshops. After the Liberation (1878) this commercial part of Veliko Tarnovo kept the traditions of the Revival market place for years. It became a symbol of the craft-trade nature of the old town. Today, the crafts market place is a significant museum in Veliko Tarnovo. The construction of the complex, including the Samovodska Charshiya and the market, was a part of the programme for development of Veliko Tarnovo as a historical, cultural and tourist city. The complex includes restored and adapted houses from the Revival period and immediately after the Liberation, bearing the typical for Tarnovo features – the broken up architecture because of the sheer land. One of them is the house of the Bulgarian writer Emilian Stanev.