D. T. Sougarev
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CHAJ'TER SEVEN D. T. Sougarev Numerous monuments dating back to larly typical in this respect is the villa ancient times are still preserved in Bul- discovered in Abritus (present-day garia. This is not surprising as, owing to Razgrad), probably the property of a its central geographic location in the big landowner; it bad a large rectangu- Balkan Peninsula, it has been criss- lar atrium (25 & 125 metres) paved crossed by countless tribes and invad- with marble slabs and interspersed with ers. At the crossroadsof the Mediterra- colonnades in an Ionic style, which was nean world and a gateway to the Orient, surrounded by 27 residential and other it was a meeting-place of various cul- buildings. tural foci in Antiquity . The break-up of the Roman Empire The still ~xtant architectural monu- into a Western and an Eastern part was ments, as weU as archaeological finds of prime importance for the further and products of the other arts, give us an developmentoflandscapegardeningin idea about the achievements of I:and- Bulgaria. The star of the new capital of scape gardening in those long bygone the Eastern Roman Empire, constanti- days. The monuments of Thracian art nople, began to shine brightly, and its discovered fairly recently, in particular beneficial cultural influence was felt the famoùs Kazanluk tomb with its with particular intensity in the nearby wonderful frescoes,are of great interest Balkan lands. With the disappearance as a basis of Bulgarian architecture and of the Western Roman Empire, mighty arts in general. In the Thracian town of Byzantium remained the only Seuthopolis the dwellings were laid out custodian of Roman traditions. around an inner courtyard or garden In 681 a Bulgarian state* made its with colonnades. Traces of garden appearance in the eastern half of the drains and courtyard drain wells, a prime Balkan Peninsulain lands which boasted condition for the creation of gardens, of a rich cultural heritage: Thracian, have been found. Roman as weIl as Slavic. Along with The Roman civilization, whose the numerous tribes which in the 7th achievements in architecture and con- century crossed the Danube and pen- struction work were quite substantial, etrated the Balkan Peninsula, the has left behind even deeper marks. ln Proto-Bulgarians settled in the lands Oescus and Nicopolis ad Istrum, two Iying between the Danube, the Balkan relatively well preserved towns dating Range and the Black Sea,i. e. the north- back to Roman times, the outlines of ern half of present-day Bulgaria. There atria are still clearly visible. Particu- they founded, together with the Slavs 80 the new state whose two oldest capitals most of the lànd is untilled, so that were Pliska and Pr,eslav. In the early Nature bas a virginal and wild look. 1Oth century , under the reign of Tsar Passing througb Bulgaria on their way Sirneon, generally known as the Golden to the Holy Land, the Crusaders spoke Age of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, with amazement about fue impenetra- favourable conditions for the develop- ble forests wbicb tbey called Silva~ ment of landscape gardening were cre- Bulgariae. ated. Preslav was surrounded by two During the almost five-century long fortress walls, an outer and an inner Ottoman bondage (1391-1878) land- one; palaces, churches and monaster- scape gardening was confined to the ies (among which the Golden Church) lay-out of cburcb and monastery court- made their appearance, situated amid yards, wbere berbs were grown for parks and gardensand adorned, accord- medicinal purposes. The boyar estates ing to the description ofIoan the Exarch, were tumed into big farms ofbeys and on the outside 'with stone and wood' agas, while the Bulgarian population and on the inside with 'marble and fled from the towns to withdraw to safer copper as well as wilth silver and gold' . mountain fastnesses, wbere gradually The specific conditions of the natu- new Bulgarian towns sprang up: raI milieu determined the architectural Koprivsbtitsa, Panagyurisbté, Kotel and and landscape lay-out of Veliko Tryavna. ln the late 18th and the 19th Turnovo, the capital of the Second Bul- century .these towns became the cradle garian Kingdom (1186-1391). The of the economic and cultural upswing Tsarevets and Trapszitsa bills offered of wbat bas become known as the Bul- the builders of the new capital excellent garian National Revival, cbaracterized opportunities for the establishment of a by the rapid progress of domestic in- unique medieval fortress-town. The dustry and trade. Here craftsmen pro- palace and the churches of the tsar and ducedleatherand woollen articles whicb the patriarch rose on Tsarevets, while weremarketed througbout the vast ot- the boyars' residences were located on toman Empire. The steady growth of Trapszitsa. The streets running down the Bulgarian urban population gave the two hills were Barrow and crooked, an impetus to the construction of resi- and the gardens were terraced. The ar- dential and public buildings. The city chitects of those days must have had a skylines came to be dominated ever fine feel for fit ting contrasts and domi- more by the domes of cburcbes; clock nants into the landscape,to judge by the towers made their appearance, wbicb smart distribution ,of the buildings, put their imprint on the city centre (for which formed a harmonious entity with instance, Tryavna). the natural setting. The courtyard or garden was usually Interesting albeit schematic data on small in size (0.2-0.5 ba) and itregular the lay-out of gardens in Bulgaria dur- in sbape. The free build-up and asym- ing that period can be found in church metric composition of the bouse deter- muraIs. Church and monastery court- mined the scenic look of the garden. yards with trees, paved walks and The cobble-stoned street in front of the fountains form the background of many bouse, the flower garden and the or- icons, decorative images and prints. cbard somebow fitted together in a pe- The scenery, however, is gloomy and culiar manner. The garden was insepa- 81 D.T. rably connected with the house and this tory of the courtyard and the surround- linkage found its best expression in the ing landscape. In this respect the mon- vine-arbour, which represented a sui astery courtyards had no peer; their generis pergola stuck to the holllSe.The architecture and lay-out seemedto grow vine-arbour or trellis vine was made of out of the ground, to form an integral wooden props on which thinner beams entity with the rocks, the woods or the and laths forming a grate were arranged. river, while the scenic beauty of the Vine leaves and branches were inter- surrounding .naturewas mirrored in the twined in this grate, thus forming a painted muraIs (the Rila monastery , the veritable laid-out ceiling, a natural Troyan Monastery and the Bachkovo fresco. There were no pronounced monastery). compositional axes in the courtyard Bulgaria's liberation from Ottoman design. The fountain, the weIl and the domination following the flower garden were so situated as to Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 found meet the functional needs of the crafts- its towns almost entirely devoid of pub- man: the fountain and the garden next tic parks and gardens.Sofia' s sole green to the house and the weIl next to the spot was in the down town area, where lean-to or annex. Whenever the terrain the City Park is now located, in front of was even,the courtyard or garden would the townhall ofMakhzar Pasha,the last be on one or at most on two levels and Turkish vali; like aIl Turkish court- be larger in size (for instance, in yards, it was planted with willows, Karlovo ), while in steep and mountain- mulberry trees, poplars, chestnuts and ous places it would be smaller in area other fruit trees. and terraced (Kotel, Zheravna and The new principality immediately Gradets). ThewayinwhichtheBulgar- set about designing public and other ian court yard was organized reveals a gardens. Distinguished landscape ar- sense of proportion. The outliJtleof the chitects and gardenersfrom abroadwere architectural framework is calm and invited to lay the groundwork, includ- weIl balanced. The sole dominant in ing Daniel Neff, Switzerland (1879), this space is the chestnut-tree, the old Karl Betz, Germany (1882), Josef Fray, peartree, the oak or the sycamorewhose France, and the Czech Anton Kolar .It mighty branchesrise skyward aJt1dwhich took several decades to build up the seem to be set there to protect an most important one, Freedom Park or, inward-looking pastorallife. A multi- as it was known in tsarist days (before tude of flowerpots whose colourful ge- World War 11),Boris Gardens (in hon- raDiums stand out brightly against the our of the then Crown Prince Boris). white walls round off the picture. Some Hardly less important for the develop- of the Karlovo court yards had as many ment of landscape gardening was the as 500 flowerpots and even more. subsequent establishment of the bo- Water occupied a privileged place in tanical and the zoological garden, the the Karlovo gardens.The ri Ils which in first of their kind in the whole of the the past passedacross all the court yards Balkan Peninsula. lent a specific touch of beauty to these The example ofSofiawas followed by othertowns in the country .In Plovdiv spaces. Everywhere aharmonious entity was the Dondukov Garden (1879) and the achieved between the miniature terri- Princely garden (1880) were created. 82 iv Central parks sprang up in Sevlievo Guards' music, and even copies of an- (1887), Turnovo (1891) and Shoumen cient statues,all features typical of that (1897), followed by the beautiful mari- epoch, made their appearance. That is time Garden in Varna (1894), the Park how Sofia's first public garden gradu- of the Liberators in Plovdiv (in the ally acquired a distinct look, a face of its wake of the first exhibition in 1892), own.