Tryavna iconography school

The last Bulgarian queen Yoanna gives the funds allocated to her by the Bulgarian Parliament for building a sanatorium in the surroundings of Tryavna for recovery of children who overcame an illness. On June 14th 1938 the royal family visited Tryavna to choose a place for the construction. They chose one of the sunniest places in the area – a place bathed by the sun from early morning till late afternoon. The project was assigned to architect Yordan Sevov; the building was completed in the autumn of year 1943 and was opened for the public in March year 1944 with a modest celebration. A chapel was built by it. Coincidentally, it has never been used as such. In this chapel, in year 1984, the Tryavna iconography school found its natural environment.

More than 1660 original orthodox icons

More than 1660 original orthodox icons illustrate the mastery of several generations of iconographers from the families of Vitanov, Zahariev, Pop Dimitar Kanchev, Minev, Venkov and Minchev. The exhibition tracks the development of the oldest Revival iconography school in Bulgaria – the Tryavna school. A restoration of a iconographer’s workshop from 19 century with original iconography toolkit was made. The phases of preparation and painting of the icons are displayed.