The town of Tryavna is situated in a narrow valley of the Tryavna Balkan Mountain, 242km away from the city of Sofia. The small mountain town (with less than 13,000 inhabitants) is halved by the Dryanovska river, which adds to its enchantment.
Established as a village around a church built by the Assen dynasty in the 12th c. AC, the town of Tryavna grew into one of the cultural centres of the Bulgarian Renaissance period. The town saw its apogee in the 18-19th c. with the development of crafts, applied arts and trade. The famous Tryavna Art School left its biggest impact on the town''s looks of that period, which are largely preserved to date. Felix Kanits, who visited the town in 1872 named it '"The Bulgarian Nuernberg'".
At present the old part of the town is declared an architectural reserve with some 140 monuments of Renaissance art. The most prominent examples are Dyado Nikola square, Slaveykov street, Petar Bogdanov street, Kachaunska Mahala, etc. Apart from its rich historical and architectural landmarks, the town has also drawn on visitors for its curative climate ever since the end of the 19th c. The first of the country''s children sanatoriums for lung diseases was built here in the early 20th c. with a donation from Queen Ioana, wife of King Boris III.
