About Arbanassi
It is also a
two-storey house, built in the end of the 17th.century. It is also a two-storey
house, very well protected. An exquisite parade
entrance and a wide strair case lead upstairs where are the reception rooms and
the bedrooms. The large reception rooms
are richly decorated. The ceilings have white clay ornamentation, while along
the upper part of the walls there is a friere of
stylized floral motifs. The doors, the shutters of the windows and the built-in
cupboards are decorated with wood carvings.
The Nativity church is the oldest Arbanassi church. The mural paintings in the
chapel are from 1632 and represent the most
important scenes from the live of St.John the Baptist, the patron of the chapel.
The iconostasis is one of the earliest
examples of wood-work in Bulgaria.
Most of the compositions in the gallery are from 1649. They depict scenes from
the Old and the New Testament, a Menology
and the wheel of live with the Zodiac. The mural paintings in the nave are from
1681 and represent the Feasts, the Passions
and the Miracles of Christ.
The Archangels Michael and Gabriel church consists of a nave, narthex a
gallery
and a chapel. The nave was built and painted
in 17th.century. The other painter was more or less under West European artistic
influence - he went for the perspective. The
painting was completed in 1760. As for as artistic standards are transition from
old iconographic schemes and technique to
new active rethiking of the experience reality, making use of new expressive
technique.
The prosperity of Arbanasi lasted till the end of the 18th century when it
was
plundered and devastated by bands of kurdjalii
and its population runaway.
Today the village has its new life as an architectural and artistic preserve.
Its unique nature cultural and historic heritage,
immedieate proximit to V.Turnovo, make the village an attractive place for
visits. The old athmosphere is eleganty combined
with modern tourist services
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