Traditional bulgarian crafts new

Traditional Bulgarian Crafts

SOU “Hristo Botev” - Aytos

(c) 2007 brainybetty.com ALL 2
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The lumber-mills
• Lumber-mills were for the most part powered by water wheels. The
lower end of the water channel, where the water entered the water
wheel, was a pyramid shaped funnel. From the height of the water
and therefore the large amount of available energy, the wheels were
able to spin at a fast rate, from 30 to 120 revolutions per minute.
• Each mill cut its boards by the length, width, and thickness that the
original trees allowed and by the specifications of the purchaser.
• An automatic system was created to feed the trees into the saw
blades, similar to the automatic feeding of water into the water
wheel, in order to make the running of the mill more efficient.
• The tree was attached to the movable wheel by way of an iron grip.
With the help of the workers, two trees could be placed one on top
of the other, to be run through the blade at the same time.

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RIGHTS RESERVED.

Water - mills
• A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive
a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or
metal shaping (rolling, grinding or wire drawing).
• Typically, water is diverted from a river or impoundment or mill pond
to a turbine or water wheel, along a channel or pipe (variously
known as a flume, head race, mill race, leat.The force of the water's
movement drives the blades of a wheel or turbine, which in turn
rotates an axle that drives the mill's other machinery.
• Water leaving the wheel or turbine is drained through a tail race, but
this channel may also be the head race of yet another wheel,
turbine or mill. The passage of water is controlled by sluice gates
that allow maintenance and some measure of flood control.

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RIGHTS RESERVED.

Fulling - mills
• Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking
which involves the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate
oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who
does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker.
• Before the invention of scribbling and spinning mills in the late 18th
century, fulling was the only mechanical process in the manufacture
of cloth. After a piece of cloth had been woven, it was taken to a
water‐powered fulling mill, where wooden hammers would pound it
with fuller's earth in order to scour and cleanse it.
• The cloth was then hung on tenter frames to be stretched back to its
original size.

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RIGHTS RESERVED.

Bulgarian Brandy distillation
• Rakia is the traditional drink of Bulgaria. It is a clear
alcoholic beverage made by the distillation of fermented
fruit. It has a high alcohol content varying anywhere
between 40% and 95% alc.There are different types of
rakia, all depending on what fruit it is made of (grapes,
plums, apricots, pears, apples, cherries, figs, quinces). In
Bulgaria, rakia made from grapes is the most popular,
but slivovitza (rakia made from plums) is also popular.
Making rakia at home has been a part of Bulgarian
traditions for centuries. Nowadays more and more of the
produce is being commercially produced in distilleries.

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RIGHTS RESERVED.

Rose Oil distillation
• For centuries, the oil-bearing rose has been grown in the Bulgarian
Valley of Roses as it is known today. This is an area with pretty
favourable climatic conditions and fertile soil including a string of
valleys situated between the Balkan range and the Sredna Gora
mountains. The major rose fileds are situated in the areas around
Karlovo, Kazanlak, Plovdiv, and Nova Zagora.
• The rose-picking season starts in the second half of May (the day
varies in the different places depending on the local conditions),
lasts for a couple of weeks and ends around mid-June. The
harvesting goes along with the Rose Festival and a beauty contest
for the Rose Queen title. Held during the festival days are
demonstrations of the rose-picking technique and the rose
distillation process, tasting of rose jam and rose brandy.

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RIGHTS RESERVED.

Pottery
• The pottery-making is a traditional
Bulgarian craft dating back from the times
of the Thracians and Romans who once
lived on our lands. That is why this art
includes closely interwoven styles and
different techniques, passed through the
generations.

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The pottery is related to earthen pots - pots, ewers,
bowls, dishes, pans, censers, deep goblets and other
kinds of ware. In the past, the pottery-making flourished
in most of the big villages in Bulgaria. . The fine
decoration and ornamentation were applied through
several techniques: hand engraving, color painting and
application of geometric design patterns. The
engraving, also called “coloring”, was achieved by
rotation of the potter’s wheel, thus forming the famous
wave lines, stripes and arched forms. Most of the
elements of the color painting included figures of
flowers, birds and animals. Another specific feature of
the pottery art are the chimneys ends, used for
decoration..
Today, sill a great variety of chimneys ends can be
seen in the areas of Koprivshtiza and Panagurishte.
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RIGHTS RESERVED.

Bells crafting
• Bells crafting in Bulgaria developed after the 15-th
century and is associated with the stock-breeding in the
areas surrounding the mountains. The bells included
forged and molten handbells, as well as church bells.
• The mastery of the bellmaker was proven by achieving
the proper tune of the bell and making the bells “sing”.
The tune depended on the size and thickness of the
metal, and the welding as well. Different kinds of
techniques were applied, depending on the materials the
handbells were made of.

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RIGHTS RESERVED.

COPPERSMITHS’ WORK
• Coppersmiths’ work is another craft with
traditions in Bulgaria. During the centuries,
masters have made daily-life items, objects for
the cattle and the farm. People say that the best
coffee is made in a copper Turkish coffee-pot,
and a brandy, heated in a copper vessel, tastes
like heavenly honey. The copper utensils had an
important part in the everyday life of Bulgarians.
• The copper works became a popular marriage
gift, conveying a message of warmth and a cozy
home for the young family. Today’s craftsmen
continue the traditions of the past.
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RIGHTS RESERVED.

Cutlery
• Cutlery is one of the earliest crafts that flourished in
Bulgaria and the ironware crafts developed in the
following areas: the town of Gabrovo, the villages of
Shipka, Kostenetz etc. Craftsmen made elaborate
swords, yathagans, razors and scissors.
• The cutlery workshop consisted of a smithy with a
fireplace and a blower, used for the treatment of the
metals and also a second room – for final treatment and
finishing. After the forging and attaching the handle, the
knife was sharpened on a whetstone. A special feature
of the cutlery was that the works of craftsmen included
also tilled horns, bones and wood used for the handles.

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RIGHTS RESERVED.

• The workshop where the leather was
treated was called “Tabakhana”. Usually it
was a very large room for treatment of raw
buffalo, cow, calf and other types of
leather. A wide range of materials were
used for treatment - lime, ash, oak barks,
sumac, sea-salt and sawdust. Until the
Liberation of Bulgaria/ 1878/, mainly four
types of leather were treated: “sole
leather” from buffalo and ox; “semi-treated
sole leather”- from cow and horse leather;
“sahtieni” – from goat; “mechini” from
sheep leather – used for lining of shoes.
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The treatment of thick leather consisted of three
basic stages: refreshing and cleaning of the leather,
whitewashing and tanning. For that purpose were used
big and small wash-tubs, a cauldron for heating the water,
a wooden tub, a wooden press for squeezing the leather,
buckets, irons for scraping, wood racks and others. The
treatment of the so-called “nude leathers” used for
making of modern shoes, boots, belts, saddlebags was
done in a very specific way. To keep the quality of the
wool, the pieces of sheep leather were coated with slaked
lime paste and fireplace ash.
The coated leather was left for twenty-four hours to
stale and then the wool was pulled out by hands. To
remove the nasty smell, the cleaned leather was put in a
sumac solution. The leather-workshops had big
impressive verandas used for drying of the leather. The
leather clothes, caps, saddles, reins, belts are part of the
typical Bulgarian crafts using the treated leather as main
material.
RIGHTS RESERVED.

RIGHTS RESERVED.

Textile weaving
• Textile weaving has always been another fundamental
handicraft in Bulgaria, serving ordinary people’s needs for
clothes and furnishings, as well as being a highly decorative
art form in its own right. The art of textile weaving in Bulgaria
reaches its pinnacle, of course, in the crafts of rug-making
and carpet-making. Carpets from Chiprovtsi in the Western
Balkan Mountains (Western Stara Planina) are of international
renown. Also much respected are carpets from Kotel,
Koprivshtitsa and the Kamchiya region. From the Rodopi
(Rhodope) Mountains comes the thick, coarse goat-wool rug
know as a kozyak. There are also beautifully coloured chergi
(blankets) found in many parts of the country. All these
Bulgarian carpets and rugs serve both practical as well as
decorative purposes.
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Weaving is an
ancient Bulgarian craft.
Original techniques are
used for the making of
fabrics for home
consumption. The basic
raw materials are wool,
goat’s hair, linen, hemp
and cotton. For dying
Bulgarians use mostly
colorants of vegetable,
animal and mineral
origine.

RIGHTS RESERVED.

RIGHTS RESERVED.

Embroidery

It is not related to water but Bulgarian Embroidery is
one of the most outstanding achievements of Bulgarian
folk art with its impressive colour combinations and
patterns. Each region in Bulgaria is known for its own
style of decoration and color combinations.The typical
features for all the country are the geometrical figures
and the prevalence of the red. All the blankets, sheets
and dresses were hand made of wool, cotton, linen. After
the fabrics had been woven, the clothes were decorated
and embroidered by hand. The threads could be woolen,
cotton or silk.

RIGHTS RESERVED.

RIGHTS RESERVED.

This project has been funded with support from
the European Commission.
This presentation reflects the views only of the
author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein.

RIGHTS RESERVED.

Traditional bulgarian crafts new

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