House "Raino Popovich" in "Starinno Karlovo" - a memory of the teacher, writer and revivalist Raino Sabev Stoyanov
- Stefan Ivanov
- Jun 17, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 20
House "Raino Popovich" is part of Ethnographic Complex "Starinno Karlovo" - an architectural reserve uniting emblematic buildings for the city of Karlovo - cultural monuments of inestimable historical and aesthetic value.
Dear friends of "Photo Moments", get ready, because I will introduce you to the house of the teacher, book writer and people's awakener Raino Popovic, telling you a story about learning! Students of Raino Popovich were Georgi Rakovski, Petar Beron, Gavril Krastevich, brothers Evlogi and Hristo Georgievi, Botjo Petkov, father of Hristo Botev. It is said that Vasil Levski sang his first hymns in this house. Come with me to a world that has captured and preserved that inimitable urban revival atmosphere that is still alive here, and that will touch you deeply, captivate you and hold you for a long time.
The house of Raino Popovic has been declared an immovable cultural value (cultural monument) with a category of national significance - architectural-building, historical and folk antiquities.
The house is located on "Vasil Levski" street, near the oldest Karlovo church "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary" and next to Bukhalov Khan.
To the left of the gate, on the white stone wall, a commemorative plaque of the teacher, book writer and public activist Raino Popović is hung.
I step onto the cobblestone patio. It is spacious, green and with beautifully designed avenues for walking and privacy.
Delicate roses have blossomed in the beds. Their aroma fills the air. Their beauty warms their hearts. Their charm caresses the senses.
The fig trees complement the extravaganza of pink paintings and give the place a unique charm.
My walk in this small but so impressive garden recharged me in a most unexpected way. You can see that the place is maintained with a lot of love and passion.
Charged, smiling and with sunshine in my soul, I head to the house.
From the very first room I enter, I am greeted by a portrait of the teacher Raino Popovic.
Rayno Popovich (Rayno Sabev Stoyanov) was among the reformers of education in Bulgaria during the Bulgarian Revival.
In 1819, with the material help of Stefan Bogoridi, he opened the second Hellenic-Bulgarian school in Kotel, then that of Emanuil Vaskidovich in Svishtov. In 1828, he founded a Greek-Bulgarian school in Karlovo as well. In addition to Kotel and Karlovo, he taught in Zheravna and Plovdiv.
At the beginning of his literary activity, Popovich pursued a Grecophile educational policy, for which he was criticized by Vasil Aprilov and Nikolay Palauzov. Subsequently, convinced that before starting to learn Greek, it is necessary to first master the native Bulgarian, he changed his teaching methodology himself. In the 1850s, he became aware of the need to integrate Bulgarian and Russian culture.
Popovich is a Hellenist and translated several books from Greek into Bulgarian, among them Aesop's fables and the moral collection "Christianity or Virtue", which, along with instructions on behavior in society and the family, on relationships between people, also gives advice on matters of clothing, about the gait, the way of speaking, as well as includes maxims from ancient culture and biographies of famous Greek thinkers such as Aristotle, Plato, Homer, Pythagoras. The first Bulgarian translation of Benjamin Franklin is also his.
This room served as a classroom. In the corner still stands a long, tough stick, with which the teacher used to establish order among the children.
This is the lounge upstairs. Here the hosts of the house welcomed guests. The ladies sat on the cushions of the bed under the windows with a cup of aromatic coffee in hand. The men gathered in groups at the opposite end.
Come to be proud!
The Ethnographic Complex "Old Karlovo" was opened in 2014.
It includes five houses – cultural monuments of remarkable cultural value. These are:
Each of the houses generates its own unique message, which directs the guest in different directions, provokes desires and memories in him, makes him dream.
The integrity of the architectural ensemble is unique and inimitable, and every visitor could feel that great Revival spirit that still roams the narrow cobblestone streets of "Old Karlovo".
The Ethnographic Complex "Old Karlovo" is site number 44b of the 100 national tourist sites.
How to get to the town of Karlovo?
Karlovo is a town located at the southern foot of the Stara Planina Mountains – in Plovdiv District.
It is located in South-Central Bulgaria near the Sub-Balkan Road*.
*The Republican Road I-6, also known as the Sub-Balkan Road, is a first-class road of the Republican Road Network of Bulgaria with a west-east direction, passing through the territory of nine districts: Kyustendil, Pernik, Sofia District, Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Sliven, Yambol and Burgas.
Its total length is 508.5 km, making it the longest republican road in Bulgaria.
The nearest town to Karlovo is the town of Sopot – located 5 kilometers (about 5 minutes by car) to the west.
Karlovo is located:
139 kilometers (about 2 hours and 11 minutes by car) from the capital
60 kilometers (about 1 hour by car) from the city of Plovdiv
356 kilometers (about 4 hours and 30 minutes by car) from the city of Varna
244 kilometers (about 2 hours and 44 minutes by car) from the city of Burgas
17 kilometers (about 17 minutes by car) from the city of Kalofer
Karlovo is the third largest city in Plovdiv District after the regional capital and Asenovgrad.
Karlovo is the administrative center of Karlovo Municipality.
How do you get to the "Rayno Popovich" house in the town of Karlovo?
Rayno Popovich in the town of Karlovo is located at 28 Vasil Levski Street near the oldest Karlovo church "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary".
Come to make yourself proud!
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