Dear friends, I have the great pleasure of presenting to you the sparkling jewel of the village of Petrich - the Art Gallery and its museum collection.
I knew that the village’s art gallery currently houses an extremely valuable artifact – the personal medallion of the benefactor of the Bulgarian people, Lady Emily Strangford, who gave it to the 27-year-old poet Ivan Vazov in 1877. That’s why I contacted Mrs. Valentina Pizova – curator at the Art Gallery of the village of Petrich, who greeted me with a smile and soon became my personal guide, introducing me to the secrets that this wonderful Bulgarian village so carefully guards.
The art collection dates back to 1976, when the artist Yordan Shentov, born in the village of Benkovski, located 7 kilometers north of Petrich (about ten minutes by car), dedicated his exhibition to the 172 Petrich residents who died for the freedom of Bulgaria during the April Epic of the summer of 1876.
Yordan Shentov is the successor of Petar Shentov, a resident of Petrič, who led the voivode Georgi Benkovski and about 70 rebels who left after the defeat of the uprising from the village of Petrich for Mount Baba in the Teteven Balkan in the Balkan Mountains.
For years I dreamed of doing something for my ancestors.
I think I achieved my dream.
Yordan Shentov
His twenty paintings remained as the core collection along with works donated by sixty other artists, leading to the official establishment and opening of the art gallery on May 8, 1986.
Many Bulgarian artists, painters and sculptors responded to Yordan Shentov's call to donate paintings to the gallery.
As a result, the gallery's collection holds over a hundred paintings, graphics and sketches by some of the best contemporary Bulgarian artists.
The most canvases were donated and created in the following years by Yordan Shentov himself.
Among the most valuable donations that you can see in the Art Gallery today are paintings of champions of the April Uprising from the village of Petrich.
You can also see a granite head of the chronicler of the April Uprising, Zahari Stoyanov.
Among the donations are several portraits of the benefactor of the Bulgarian people, Viscountess Emily Anne Strangford.
Her photo was provided to me by the British embassy. Then I first made the portrait in Petrich, since she was there while one of the hospitals was being built.
Yordan Shentov
Arriving in Bulgaria, she bought about ten thousand sackcloths, poturi, blankets, cauldrons for boiling rose oil, tools for mills, she helped the affected regions with many things...
When she was leaving our country, at least that's what they told me, I know from my grandfather, from Petrich, that in baskets, on horses, she carried 4-5 children, complete orphans.
She left Bulgaria not of her own free will, but because she was forced to leave. This happened during the Liberation.
At that time, there were two charitable organizations - the Red Cross and the Red Crescent.
There was some accusation or suspicion on the part of the Russian generals that, since she went to both the Turks and the Russians, she was probably doing some kind of espionage. And that's why they gave her the way...
But when she left, she was very deeply grateful to the Bulgarian people and took several children, who first went with her to England. There she raised them, educated them, and as far as I know, two women came to Petrich who wanted to see where they were born. And they were amazed by what they saw and understood about their homeland and its hardships.
At least this is the tradition that we know from Petrich.
Yordan Shentov
Lady Emily Strangford – a symbol of humanity, mercy, kindness, generosity and love for the Bulgarians, is a person who is given a prominent place in the Art Gallery of the village of Petrich.
I painted her not like other portraits, but as an icon. Because she should be studied in primary schools. These are benefactors of the Bulgarian people, they should be known to the younger generation, to know who and what they helped with in the most difficult moments of Bulgaria. She sacrificed her entire career to come to this terrible region, in this troubled time, and to help all the people who suffered. That's why I simply didn't idealize her so much, she is very beautiful, you can see it in the picture, that's why I painted her against the background of a Koprivshtitsa veranda, against the background of the house of Mlatchkov, father Mlatchkov, in whose house she lived after the uprising in Koprivshtitsa.
Yordan Shentov
I have dedicated a separate and independent publication to the life and work of Viscountess Emily Anne Strangford, which you can read HERE.
When Viscountess Strangford met Ivan Vazov in 1877, she spontaneously took off her locket, which she always wore on her chest, and which contained photographs of her and her late husband, Lord Percy Strangford, and gave it to him as a sign of gratitude and appreciation for the poem "To Lady Strangford" dedicated to her.
The priceless artifact that brought me here has been given a special place.
It is exhibited in one of the gallery's halls, along with the original note by Evgenia Pavlova Boncheva, better known by her pseudonym Evgenia Mars - a Bulgarian writer, translator and public figure, also known as the inspirer of the patriarch of Bulgarian literature, Ivan Vazov.
On May 8, 2021, Maria Elmazova, granddaughter of Eugenia Mars, donated the medallion to Lady Strangford.
Mrs. Maria Elmazova shares that it is her and her mother Lilyana Elmazova's wish, Evgenia Mars's daughter-in-law, that the medallion be handed over for safekeeping and presentation to the Bulgarian public, the residents and guests of the village of Petrich.
The personal medallion of Lady Emily Anne Strangford was placed in a special display case in the art gallery of the village of Petrich in the presence of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Rumen Radev, and the Deputy Ambassador of the Kingdom of Great Britain to Bulgaria, Ms. Lynn Charles.
A cinema hall with about 50 seats has been built and equipped for the art gallery in the village of Petrich.
In connection with the 145th anniversary of the announcement of the April Uprising, with the support of the companies Aurubis Bulgaria AD, Dundee Precious Metals Chelopech EOOD and Elatsite-Med AD, a special film about the April Epic, about Lady Emily Strangford and about the village of Petrich was created, which, at the request of the gallery visitors, is being screened in the cinema hall.
And to all of you, my dear readers, I wish you a pleasant walk to the village of Petrich and remind you of the special photo album that has collected all the masterpieces of the gallery, a link to which awaits you at the end of this publication.
With immense gratitude to Mrs. Valentina Pizova – curator at the Art Gallery of the village of Petrich, for the welcome, for the walk, for the stories, for everything!
How to get to the village of Petrich, Zlatitsa municipality?
Petrich is a village in Western Bulgaria, Sofia Region, Zlatitsa Municipality.
It is located in a mountainous area on the border between Sashtina and Ihtiman Sredna Gora.
Part of the village is the Bodyat neighborhood, located a few kilometers from it. In the past, there were many more neighborhoods - Belega, Angelovi Koshari, Varlina, Chebara, Fartunite and others.
The Topolnitsa River flows through the village and four smaller rivers flow into it – Mirkovska, Smolska, Kamenishka and Gugov dol.
It is assumed that this proverb gives the name to the village.
Petrich is located:
66 kilometers (about 1 hour and 02 minutes by car) from the capital
106 kilometers (about 1 hour and 38 minutes by car) from the city of Plovdiv
435 kilometers (about 5 hours and 15 minutes by car) from the city of Varna
344 kilometers (about 3 hours and 34 minutes by car) from the city of Burgas
30 kilometers (about 30 minutes by car) from the city of Panagyurishte
How to get to the Art Gallery in the village of Petrich?
The Art Gallery in the village of Petrich is located in the school building near the center of the village, next to the Church of St. George, opposite the Bratska Mogila and on the left bank of the Gugov Dol River.
Since the school building is not marked on Google maps, I am providing a link to the Church of St. George. The large U-shaped building north of the church is the school building, which houses the Art Gallery on the second floor.
And finally, my dear friends,
you shouldn't miss checking out
the special photo album with moments –
discovered, experienced, filmed and shared with you!
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