Detailed interactive map Bozhentsi
Bozhentsi is a village located at foothills of Stara Planina Mount (Balkan), among virgin forests, 15 km to the east of Gabrovo. The village has granted a status of architectural and historical reserve “Bozhentsi”. This picturesque corner has kept a spirit of past times. For six centuries a legend about the first local settlers - Lady Bozhana of Trnovo and her nine sons, who managed to escape from Trnovo, besieged by Turkish oppressors to the mountains, has been passed from generation to generation. Until the end of XIX century Bozhentsi village was an economic, administrative, educational and spiritual center of surrounding villages. Today, 100 homes, aged from 100 to 250 years, are preserved here. Each of them is a good example of Bulgarian practicality and artistic flair. Permanent museum exhibition of XVIII-XIX centuries items is created in two houses. The Church of St. Elijah the Prophet (1835) is also worth attention. During the Ottoman yoke Bozhentsi residents have managed to get a permission to build the bell tower, which was categorically forbidden by the Turks. The bell was brought from the remote Russian city of Tula. Near Bozhentsi village there are Dryanovo, Sokolovsky and Kilifarevo monasteries.
