An open air museum on Tsarevets Fortress in Veliko Tarnovo will reproduce the life people led in the Middle Ages. The local patriotic club Tradition came up with thе idea; they have been taking care of the various tourist attractions and eventс taking place on the hill for years now. Their efforts led to Tsarevets being the most visited tourist site nationwide.
In collaboration with Veliko Tarnovo Municipality and the Tsarevgrad Tarnov Municipal Tourist Agency a medieval settlement depicting crafts typical for the locals from XII to XIX century will be set up. The village will be open for visitors throughout the tourist season. It will feature some medieval buildings as well as a variety of open air crafts’ workshops; the organizers are hoping that their number will reach at least 8.
A traditional heart oven will be placed on the site; fresh bread will be baked daily there. There will be also a medieval-style school for the children. A catapult and a trebuchet will also be put on display. The trebuchet was widely used by Bulgarian during the Middle Ages. Tsar Kaloyan used 30 of them to seize Edirne in 1205 (one of the most significant battles in Bulgarian history). The device is currently being constructed; its creators want to make it operating and shooting boulders between 30 and 50 kg to a distance of up to 200m.
The makeshift medieval village will also feature a cosmetics workshop. Last summer visitors were shown how to make soap following a recipe from these times. This year people will also learn how to produce beauty creams and fragrance oils. A pottery will be available as well and it will feature a mechanical potter’s wheel. Everyone can try operating it and throwing a vessel.
The idea for this attraction evolved after last year’s success of the Summer Crafts’ School which happened due to the joint efforts of Tradition Club, the craftsmen form the artisan Samovodskata Charshia Street and the Tsarevgrad Tarnov Municipal Tourist Agency. More than 600 children, young people and tourists were mastering their skills in multiple medieval and not only crafts like pottery, leather processing, wood-carving, weaving, making bead jewellery and many more. They also learnt how to shoot a cross bow and a bow and how to write their names in the oldest Slavic alphabet – the Glagolitic alphabet.
