Excursion: Elhovo - Stefan Karadzhovo - Yambol - 2 days

Yambol district is located in the South- East part of Bulgaria. Its territory is km2 - 4% of the total area of the country. Its boundaries are north – Sliven district, east – Bourgas, west – Haskovo district, south – Republic of Turkey. Toundzha river flows through its territory. There are 4 towns – Yambol, Elhovo, Straldzha and Bolyarovo and 5 municipalities and 106 villages in the district.

We direct to Elhovo. There we will visit the Ethnographic museum and the Church St. Demetrius of Thessalonica. Follows a walk in the town and lodging in hotel Rodni prostori. Day first

The town of Elhovo is located in West Bulgaria, 36 km away from Yambol and 94 km away from Bourgas, along the watersides of Toundzha river, between the mountains Atranda and Sakar. Its altitude is between 100 and 150 meters. The population of Elhovo consists of people. There are historical traces from the times of the Thracians tribes with a name Orudica. Later its Slavonic names were Yoanitsa and Yanitsa. The distance between Elhovo and the cross-border point between Turkey and Bulgaria is 25 km.

The Ethnographic museum It preserves rich variety of the ethnographic inheritance of Elhovo and there are 4 halls with expositions. In the first hall are presented the main occupations of the population at the end of ХІХ c. – agriculture, viticulture, tobacco, cattle-breeding, hunting and fishing, and some crafts. The second hall presents the homes of the population at the end of ХІХ c. In the third hall are presented the traditional clothes of the population in South-east Bulgaria. In the forth hall are presented the traditions and holidays. Annually more than visitors come in the museum. The museum arranged exhibitions with its fund in Vienna, Montreal, Budapest… The Ethnographic museum is included in the list of The hundred national tourist sites and is one of the three specialized ethnographical museums in Bulgaria.

Regardless the obstacles in the construction of churches in Elhovo in XIX c., in 1836 a small chapel was built. Later in 1853 a small church school was built. It was the time of the most rapid struggles against the Byzantium clergy. The population of Elhovo openly voice their vigorous ambition In 1874 they c c c chased Dionisii from their town and refused to pay taxes to him. They changed all Greek books of the liturgy with Slavonic. They started to worship only in Bulgarian language. In the same year of 1874 on the place of the chapel they started to build a new church which was finished in named Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki. The church Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki - Elhovo The church Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki - Elhovo

Description : Three floor building, ground floor with household appliances, tourist kitchen, dining room. Second and third floor are bedrooms. Capacity: Double rooms - 8 Three beds rooms - 8 Four beds rooms - 1 Total: 50 beds The hotel offers: Folk style nook, kitchen, garden dinning place, barbeque. Tourist services: guide, visit to museums, theater, transport. Prices: Winter season о lv. per bed. Summer season lv. per bed. Additional discount : for groups of 35 people, Continuous stay more than 2 nights, and for children up to 7 years. Hotel " " " " " RRRR oooo dddd nnnn iiii p p p p rrrr oooo ssss tttt oooo rrrr iiii """"

Breakfast in the hotel and departure to Stefan Karadjovo village and visit to the house- museum of the famous Bulgarian rebellion Stefan Todorov Dimov. Departure to Yambol and visit to community center Suglasie, the Art g g g gallery, Historical museum, the only preserved covered market Bezisten. Lodging in the hotel Borovec with included visit to its disco-club. Day second

In 1854 he leaves to Serbia, where he met Vasil Levsk, Hadji Dimitar and other famous Bulgarian rebellions. He participated in the First and in the Second Bulgarian legions fighting against the Ottoman. In he was captured and imprisoned in Tarnovo. He was hung in Stefan Karadja The house is related with the famous rebellion Stefan Todorov Dimov, famous as Stefan Karadja. He was born in He was the ninth child in the family.

The town of Yambol Yambol is a town-municipality and administrative center of Yambol district. It is located on a territory of 91 km2 on both watersides of Toundzha river in the South-east part of Bulgaria. It is 93 km far from the Black sea. Its population is The total area of the town is 91 km2. The town is older than 10 centuries.

Community center Suglasie From the end of XIX century the community center Suglasie" is one of the centers of cultural life in the town. Here in 1904 was realized the first film show and in 1927 was installed the first radio transmitter. There are different talent schools - Rebecchoir, Children musical school, theatre school, dancing schools, library, artistic school, etc. Today the building of the community center is a home of the Drama theatre in Yambol. It is established before more than 100 years. In its repertoire are authors like Shakespeare, Shaffer, Pinter and Nedyalko Yordanov.

The art gallery - Yambol One of the biggest galleries possessing more than 3500 pictures. It is named after the famous Yambol artist George Papazov ( ), who lived and worked in Paris from 1924, v v v vanguard artist, representative of the Paris a a a artist school, surrealist. From 1952 till 1979 the gallery was a department of the historic museum and then became an independent cultural institute. Its fund possesses valuable works- canvases from 20-th и 30-th years of the last century, pictures, sculptures, and more than 1000 volumes of specialized literature.

Historical museum - Yambol There were three departments in the beginning: historical (including the historical development of Yambol and the region from prehistoric till 1944); socialist period (after 1944) and natural-scientific. Currently there are 4 departments in the historical museum : Archeology" (including the funds Prehistory", Antiquity", Middle ages" и Numismatics"); Bulgarian lands ХV-ХІХ c." (including funds Renaissance" и Ethnography"); New history" and Public relations". There is a work room for restoration and conservation. The funds of the museum posses exhibits. There is a local computer network in the museum. The museum has been organizing more than 30 imposing exhibitions related to the history of Yambol and its region. Yambol historical museum was founded with the assistance of local intellectuals. In 1886 in the male school in Yambol thanks to the initiative of the professor Peter Noikov (the first professor of pedagogics) was arranged the first museum exhibition.

Bezisten It has been built in the second middle of XV c. in the center of the town. It is one of the 10 covered markets in Europe. It is the only one building of that kind in Bulgaria, very well preserved monument. It gives very unique impression of Yambol and is one of the towns symbols. The Bezisten was restored in and still works as a covered market.

Hotel Borovets-Yambol Floors - 2, total number of beds - 48 Rooms: 22 Rooms: 22 double: 20 double: 20 apartments: 2 apartments: 2 Entertainments: Lobby bar Lobby bar Cocktail bar Cocktail bar Night club Night club Restaurant-garden Restaurant-garden Breakfast saloon Breakfast saloon In the rooms: SAT TV SAT TV Mini-bar Mini-bar room service room service In the complex: information informationparking Telephone post Near the hotel: Bus stop Shops Post office Taxi stop Additional services: business and cultural tourism