Central Southern Bulgaria
The town of Koprivshtitsa (2935 inhabitants, 1050 metres above sea level) is situated along the two banks, within the upper course of the Topolnitsa River in the heart of Sashtinska (Real) Sredna Gora Mountain.
Introduction & History
It is situated at the distance of 110 km south-east of Sofia, 80 km north-west of Plovdiv, 27 km south-east of Pirdop and 24 km north of Strelcha. A town-museum and the unique settlement in Bulgaria, which preserved in compact over 250 patterns of the Revival Period architecture. A cradle of the April Uprising (1876). A tourist centre and a mountain resort.
History: Koprivshtitsa originated as a settlement during the 14th century. Its population dealt with cattle-breeding, manufacturing of aba (coarse homespun woollen cloth and upper men’s garment made of it), furriery, dyeing and other crafts. The citizens of Koprivshtitsa proved to be good merchants, too reaching as far as Istanbul and Alexandria. The wealthy and urbanised settlement was plundered and destroyed by fire by kurdzhalii (Turkish brigands) three times and rebuilt from ashes to reach its greatest prosperity during the 19th century, when it had over 1000 houses and a population of nearly 12 000 inhabitants. Spacious houses, schools, churches, drinking-fountains, bridges were built there. In 1837 Neofit Rilski (Neophyte of Rila) opened a mutual school and 9 years later Naiden Gerov founded the first in Bulgaria independent boys’ intermediate school. In 1864 a girls’ intermediate school was opened here and three years later Todor Kableshkov opened the students’ society “Zora” (Dawn). In 1869 the chitalsihte (reading room or community centre) was opened here. In the same year Vassil Levski established a revolutionary committee in it. During that time Lyuben Karavelov who was born in Koprivshtitsa headed the foreign Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee (BRCC) in Bucharest.
