The village of Gorna Lipnitsa is a picturesque one, situated in the plain, where the summer is hot, full with the odor of flowers and sweet fruits, while the winter turns it into a white fairytale. The image of the village determines its architecture, traditions and the lifestyle of the people from the plains, situated to the North of the Balkan Range. Gorna Lipnitsa can be found near the old Bulgarian capital of Veliko Tarnovo.
Legends say that the first Bulgarians inhabited these lands in the 15th century. The village had two neighborhoods till the Liberation from Ottoman rule – a Bulgarian and a Turkish one and they both lived in peace and harmony. The lime forests, situated to the South of the village name it. Unfortunately, not much is left from those, but at least one lime tree spreads its scent in each of the yards, while some nice tea is made of its blossoms. These yards are big ones – nearly 0.2 hectares each and locals grow fruits and vegetables there. Agriculture used to be the main activity there in the past, while nowadays people try to make a living out of rural tourism. They offer tasty fruits and vegetables from the garden, evening gatherings on benches in the streets, a cart or bicycle walk… simple things in life that are turned into a major tourist attraction. At the same time local Zora community center keeps the village’s cultural life, as several exhibitions can be seen there: an art one, an ethnographic display, along with an exposition, dedicated to famous Bulgaria writer and journalist Serafim Severniak.
© Photo: www.gornalipnitsa.com
A collection dedicated to Serafim Severnyak
“Serafim Severniak was born in the village of Gorna Lipnitsa and right now an exhibition at the Zora community center re-creates his office, with personal belongings, his typewriter, along with all his works,” Mr. Dimitar Palov, a member of the Association for Development of Gorna Lipnitsa explains. “There is an ethno-corner that exhibits traditional clothing and documents, related to the village’s history. The decree, allowing the building of the St. Dimitar Church – another attraction of the place, is also here.”
The decree mentioned is dated May 24 1859. Locals had their struggle for the construction of a church during the Renaissance, after they had built up a school. Their representatives walked all the way to Istanbul with the idea to persuade the sultan to issue the decree. After many problems the temple was built in 1863. The soil from the basement was unloaded around the building, so that it didn’t look too high. It was cleaned after the Liberation. Many experts think that the church was built by famous Bulgarian craftsman Kolyu Ficheto or some of his students, since it has beautiful ornament figures of birds.”
The St. John of Rila Chapel, built at a healing spot, according to legends, is the next stop of the tourist. The six murals, drawn by Dimitar Palov, present the life of St. John of Rila.
“My idea was to re-create most of the major moments in the saint’s life by linking them to certain places. How do you make a mural? I read the legend, I find a scene from his life and try to figure out where exactly it all happened. For instance, the first mural in Gorna Lipnitsa re-creates John of Rila as a child and his birthplace – Skrino.”
Ashlar /tooled stone/ that all walls and fences are made of in Gorna Lipnitsa is the first thing that attracts the visitors’ attention. “The stone image of the village impresses a great number of foreigners,” Dimitar Palov says. The village has welcomed over the past two summers young artists from different countries, who get to know local attractions and create their works of art, inspired by the legends, nature and historical monuments of the village. “Gorna Lipnitsa has a very nice website, where one can find information on everything, happening in the village, to do some virtual sightseeing and also to visit tourist and cycling routes,” Dimitar Palov explains. One of the latter crosses a historical place.
The museum of agriculture
“The route passes by a place, related to the movement for freedom – the Dyadopanova koria locality, where the gorilla fighters of Hadzhi Dimitar and Stefan Karadzha had a battle with Turkish soldiers. The local priest serves a liturgy each year here, people gather and have some sort of a picnic. The whole village celebrates downtown in the evening, honoring the memory of those, who took part in the battle… The other interesting thing about Gorna Lipnitsa is its multilingual population, Dimitar Palov goes on to say. Englishmen, Maltese and German people, Ukrainians, Russian and Frenchmen reside through different parts of the year here, especially in the summer. Some of the foreigners that own houses in the village welcome guests. However, one of the main problems of the place is the aging of its people and things should start to happen here, in order for more young people to be attracted to stay…”
English version: Zhivko Stanchev
Photos: Elena Karkalanova
