Picturesque old houses lining a narrow river and tiny shops selling hand-made sweets, knives and fabrics: The Etara open air museum recreates a charming, idealised version of mid-19th century Bulgaria.

When Etara was established in 1964, after the idea of Lazar Donkov, from Gabrovo, it was revolutionary.

Modern mosaic marks the entrance of Etara Museun

The extensive reconstruction programme that swept Communist Bulgaria from the 1950s up until the 1980s saw entire neighbourhoods and old city centres demolished to make way for Socialist buildings and marble-paved squares.

Gabrovo - a bustling industrial centre in the Stara Planina, on the River Yantra, was not an exception. After the Communist construction thrust, very few of its old houses remained, including the Clock Tower and the Baev Bridge. 

Some of the old Gabrovo houses were fortunate: they were moved, along with some buildings from the surrounding villages, to the Etara museum. The rest of the houses in the complex are copies.

The purpose of the Etara museum is to reproduce with a degree of accuracy the life of the inhabitants in Revival Period Gabrovo. The cobblestone street, a replica of Gabrovo's old market street, is the main commercial area of the complex. The ground shops of potters, woodcarvers, coppersmiths, icon painters, silversmiths and weavers busy in their work are usually crowded with curious tourists.

The small confectionery shop is the most appealing. The confectioner's sugar peacocks, sesame sticks and walnut sweets are some of the most authentic experiences in the Etara museum. 

https://en.etar.bg

The Sakova House, a replica of a destroyed original, illustrates the life of well-to-do residents in the transition between two epochs. Its inhabitants used new Western style chairs, exquisitely crafted tables, modern lighting and European beds and wardrobes. At the same time, however, life still revolved around the big traditional hearth, and the household continued to lounge on old style couches, cushioned with thick pillows