Tryavna is a town in the region of the Balkan in Bulgaria.
Tryavna (Bulgarian: Трявна) is a town in central Bulgaria in the north slopes of the Balkan range, on the Tryavna river valley, near Gabrovo. It is famous for its textile and crafts industry and typical National Revival architecture, featuring 140 cultural monuments, museums and expositions. Tryavna is the birthplace of Bulgarian writer Pencho Slaveykov and revolutionary Angel Kanchev.
The location has been inhabited since Thracian times, or for thousands of years, but the earliest definitive proof of the existence of the modern village dates to the 12th century, in the years around the conquest of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom by the Ottoman Turks. During the period of Bulgarian National Revival, when Bulgarian society redefined itself in the 18th and 19th centuries during the Ottoman occupation, the town became heavily involved in the development of crafts. Houses from this period feature their own architectural design. The ground floors had irregular forms and housed craftsmen and traders. The upper floors featured wooden bow-windows, the roofs were covered with well arranged rocks.
The city has a continental climate, owing to its position close to the Balkan Mountains and distance from the Black Sea. Tryavna has hot summers and cold, snowy winters — which is good for the popular sky resorts in the nearby Uzana area. This part of Bulgaria has all four seasons, although spring is brief and falls mainly in April. The average high daily temperature in summer is about 27°C and in winter about 4°C.
The town is well connected with the whole country thanks to its excellent road network and railway station.
The town is on Route 609 and Route 552, which are the same road when they pass through Tryavna. Highway 55, running north-south, passes the town to the east and Highway 5 passes the village to the west.
A regular daily bus connect Tryavna with Sofia, though it runs only once a day. A bus runs back and forth from Tryavna to Gabrovo about 10 times a day during the week, and about half as often during the weekend.
Tryavna is on a major north-south railway line and there are several trains from the major transport hub of Gorna Oryahovitsa, next to the historic town of Veliko Turnovo. From there, changes to trains from Sofia can be done. A few trains continues southwards to Stara Zagora and Dimitrovgrad. In the other direction, there are connections to Tryavna from theRuse, on the border with Romania. Additionally, the once-daily overnight train between Bucharest and Istanbul also calls here. Tickets and timetables are available at stations or at the website of national operator BDZ.
The town has its own small bus system, some taxis and marshrutkas. However, it is a comparatively small community and most of the historical and interesting areas are close enough to each other to be accessed on foot.
A historical village and architectural preserve - the old buildings are maintained - Tryavna offers a lot to sight seers, photographers, people who enjoy shopping and similar activities. The town is also home to a number of galleries and museums, which art and artifacts from across the history of Bulgaria.
Tryavna offers a profusion of shopping opportunities, many of which cater to tourists, including shops selling sojourners, clothings, jewelry, arts and craft items and similar goods.
Drinking establishments are common in Bulgaria and Tryavna. Beer and alcohol are available at almost all coffee shops, restaurants and shops where food and refreshments are available. There are few establishments which serve only alcohol.
Hiking, biking and camping opportunities are widely available in the nearby Central Balkan National Park (dead link: October 2017) and in the Nature Park Bulgarka, itself home to Ethnographic Complex Etara, Dryanovo Monastery, Sokolski Monastery, Shipka Pass, and the Uzana area. The Bozhentsi Trail (Екопътека Боженци - Дряновски манастир) leads to the village and the Dryanovo Monastery.
2nd-order administrative division
Primary administrative division