Samokov is a small town in the Southwestern part of Bulgaria with a rich history of at least six centuries.
It is indeed quite a colorful place with old buildings, museums, parks, even an art gallery. The town is also famous for its musical concerts that take place in its big sports hall. As the town is only a few tens of kilometers from the capital city of Bulgaria, Sofia, these musical events usually attract a significant number of viewers and participants too.
For me, personally, Samokov is a wonderful place for a short or not-so-short walks as I find the air there very clear and also there was a small family-run hotel with a restaurant serving probably the best apple pie and roasted pork knuckle, dishes that are more popular in Germany, probably, but here they were just perfectly delicious! I am using the past tense here as, unfortunately, on that last visit, the restaurant was not operational. Too bad!
If I have to use only one word to describe that town, it would be "beautiful".
I even found a stone plate, having that word in Bulgarian:
"Krasivo"
Beautiful, indeed, it is.
In the past, the power of the running river water has been utilized a lot, mainly to forge metals, coming from the many mines around. A town, build around river, is always beautiful. I guess I enjoyed the tranquility of the central park near the river a lot, because I forgot to take photos of it, LOL :)
What also impressed me here is the fact there are churches and mosques, coexisting in close proximity and I believe that places where people of different religions coexist peacefully, are always more beautiful.
Check out the beautiful mosque and the water spring near it:
Plenty of medieval details have been well preserved here:
I really like a lot those wooden fences the old Bulgarians had been putting up by using thin tree branches. They look really beautiful, don't they?
Only a few minutes away on foot is one of the beautiful churches of Samokov:
With its amazing wall and ceiling decorations and tall bell tower, I was happy to hear its bells ringing while visiting the inside of the church.
Our walk continues by foot to visit another church of the town, this time located on top of one of the hills around. Passing those warm autumn streets, like the first photo above, and enjoying some lovely natural frames:
Here it is, waiting for us on that windy hill:
What a view! With those ancient granite and marble tombstones at the church yard of the holy people serving the local community:
Walking around was such a special experience, paying some respect and gratitude.
On our way back to our car, parked at Samokov down town, we passed by the art gallery, where I was surprised to find out they have an annual photographic competition, named after a great photographer, called Atanas Karastoyanov:
Such a great way to spend a day of the weekend, not only enjoying the beauty of the town, but also learning some new things about Samokov, this treasure-town!
Here is its Wikipedia page just in case you would like to read more official info about it in English, there are also eight other language versions as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samokov
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Have a great day, stay safe, stay strong and let your muse be always on your shoulder!
