Koprivshtitsa: the back story

About Koprivshtitsa: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Sofia Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Koprivshtitsa, in the Sredna Gora mountains east of Sofia, is one of the best-preserved towns of the Bulgarian National Revival, a place of cobbled lanes, stone bridges and houses painted in blue, ochre and red, many now museums.

A Revival town

In the 18th and 19th centuries, merchants grew rich here trading wool and livestock across the Ottoman Empire, and built the beautiful houses that make Koprivshtitsa famous.

The painted houses

Houses such as the Oslekov House and the Lyutov House have painted façades, carved ceilings and rooms furnished in the style of the period, and several can be visited on one combined ticket.

Koprivshtitsa’s houses are painted in colours you will not forget.

The April Uprising

In April 1876, the April Uprising against Ottoman rule began in Koprivshtitsa, and the town is a place of national memory, with house-museums of its leaders.

Our advice: Koprivshtitsa is about two hours from Sofia by car; trains stop at a station some kilometres away, with a connecting bus. Stay overnight to enjoy the town when day visitors leave, and buy the combined museum ticket.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Koprivshtitsa: the back story before you go.