Arbanasi

Arbanasi (Bulgarian: Арбанаси) is a village close to Veliko Tarnovo in the North-Central Bulgaria, an architectural reserve with centuries-old churches and preserved traditional architecture.

Arbanasi (ahr-bah-NAH-si) is a small village with a permanent population of about 360 people (2025). It's about 5 km (3.1 mi) north-east of the medieval capital Veliko Tarnovo, in the hills that separate Tarnovo and the railway town Gorna Oryahovitsa. The village's name is an old Bulgarian word for "Albanians", although the exact reasons why it got named that way are unknown.

Arbanasi is home to seven churches that were built in the late 16th and early 17th century, when the Orthodox priests of Tarnovo decided to relocate somewhere further away from the eyes of the Ottoman authorities after a failed revolt in the city. Ottoman law at the time required Christian temples to be low and plain, without domes or belfries, so all of the churches have unusual architecture compared to more modern temples. Outside, they have rubble stone walls and sloped roofs like ordinary houses, while the interiors are long, low barrel vaults covered in frescoes.

Arbanasi used to be a rich and privileged village of traders and craftsmen, but in the late 18th/early 19th it was sacked by brigands several times and suffered epidemics of plague and cholera, causing most of the population to flee. Afterwards, it was slowly repopulated and rebuilt, resulting in a mixture of National Revival and pre-Revival architecture.

The village managed to weather the 20th century mostly unchanged, but 1990s corruption and the tourism building boom of the 2000s caught up with it. A number of hotels and even a private school were built before stricter controls were re-established, causing Arbanasi to lose some of its distinctive architectural image.

The easiest way is by a tour bus: organised tours to Veliko Tarnovo often include a visit to Arbanasi.

Buses that connect Tarnovo and Gorna Oryahovitsa can drop you off at the entrance to the village. There are also dedicated shuttle buses to Arbanasi that start at Tarnovo's Bus Station West (Avtogara Zapad). You can also take a taxi from Veliko Tarnovo - it's more convenient, but always more expensive, and you need to be careful not to get scammed.

• 43.09795425.6684251 Bus Stop Arbanasi (on the main square, north side of the main street). Bus shelter with several benches under a tiled roof on wooden uprights.  (updated Sep 2026)

If you have a car, Arbanasi is right by National Road 514 that connects Veliko Tarnovo and Gorna Oryahovitsa. It's the same road that passes under the slopes of Tsarevets on its north side, by the Forty Martyrs Church - cross the river and follow the road north, watching for the "brown signs" pointing to Arbanasi. You can also get to Arbanasi without entering Veliko Tarnovo, if you are approaching from the east on National Road 4 (European Route E772): before Tarnovo, at the village of Sheremetya (Шереметя) exit to the north right at the entrance of the village, and carefully follow the signs to Arbanasi (the road is narrow and branches in several places).

You can also hike from Tarnovo to Arbanasi by several scenic routes. The shortest one is the "Swing of Love" trail that starts at the bus stop at the northern tip of the hill Trapezitsa (there are signs and it shows up on OpenStreetMap; in theory there should be red markings).

Arbanasi is about a kilometer across, so you can easily get around on foot. A lot of the streets are cobblestone, so avoid high heels.

Most of Arbanasi is a sight by itself, as long as you ignore how many of the old houses are hotels or restaurants.

• 43.0990225.665361 House-museum Konstantsalievata kashta (Konstantsaliev's House). A merchant's house turned into an ethnographic museum about the lifestyle of Arbanasi's wealthiest during the village's peak. Originally built in the 17th century, and expanded a few times over the years. An example of the "fortress house" secular architecture of Arbanasi.  (updated Sep 2026)
• House-museum Hadzhiilievata kashta - closed to visitors?

Two of the churches in Arbanasi are inside small functioning monasteries and freely open to pilgrims (mind your clothing and behaviour!). The other five churches are protected under the umbrella of the Veliko Tarnovo History Museum, with three of them open to visitors (together with the ethnographic house they are included in the package ticket offered by the museum).

• 43.09748925.6636432 Nativity of Christ Church (църква „Рождество Христово“). The most important and best preserved of the churches in Arbanasi. The original frescoes were completed in 1597. An additional narthex and a chapel to St. John the Forerunner were added later, complete by 1632. The church was a part of a complex that used to hold the seat of the metropolitan bishop of the large Veliko Tarnovo see.  (updated Sep 2026)
• 43.125.6666673 Archangels Michael and Gabriel Church (църква „Свети Архангели Михаил и Гавраил“).  (updated Sep 2026)
• 43.0987425.6617524 St. George Church (църква „Свети Георги“). In 1973, the frescoes were removed from the walls for "conservation", but due to improper storage some of them were lost. Only in 2012 they were restored thanks to EU funding.  (updated Sep 2026)
• 43.0985425.667825 St. Demetrius Church (църква „Свети Димитър“). Closed to visitors, only the exterior is accessible. Frescoes of the main church were completed in 1621. The church had survived intact until the end of the 19th century; large parts of it collapsed in a 1913 earthquake, necessitating structural rebuilds in the 1930s and 1970s which were combined with archaeological digs. The church contains a built-in chapel to St. George, but archaeological surveys showed that the chapel was originally a standalone building built in the mid-16th century, making it the oldest recorded temple in Arbanasi.  (updated Sep 2026)
• 43.10152325.6682166 St. Athanasius Church (църква „Свети Атанас“) (yard gate opens to the south, onto Ilinden Str). Closed to visitors?. Surrounded by a large church yard that has served as Arbanasi's cemetery for centuries. ("Athanasius" means "immortal" in Greek.) The original frescoes of the main church were completed in 1667, the frescoes of the built-in chapel to St. Haralambos - in 1726.  (updated Oct 2026)
• Both monasteries in Arbanasi are quite small, both are functioning female monasteries, and both were built in the place of destroyed medieval monasteries:
  • 43.09800425.6599027 Monastery of (the Dormition) of the Mother of God (манастир „Успение на Света Богородица“). The monastery church was built in the 1680s as a parish church of the village, and a chapel to the Holy Trinity was added to it no later than 1704. A monastery was (re)built around the church in the 1710s, and the church frescoes were repainted in 1762. The monastery was sacked in the end of the 18th century and rebuilt as a female monastery in 1836, including the bell tower/dome above the gate.  (updated Oct 2026)
  • 43.09583325.6638898 Monastery of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (манастир „Свети Николай Чудотворец“), 31 Sveti Nikola Str (from the central square, follow Sveti Nikola Str to the south-west and then west; after one broad U-turn the monastery is on the next U-turn). 7:00-17:00. A chapel to St. Elijah was added to the St. Nicholas Church in 1716. The monastery was sacked by brigands at the end of the 18th century, and restored in 1833 as a female monastery. All monastery buildings but the church had to be rebuilt once again after the 1913 earthquake. The original vault and frescoes survive in the western part of the church, but the altar end was rebuilt and expanded in the 19th century, making St. Nicholas the only church in Arbanasi with a dome.  (updated Oct 2026)

There's a souvenir store on the main square, next to the bus stop, but it's better to spend money on the offerings of the museum. There's no bank office with an ATM in Arbanasi, so any ATMs you see likely belong to independent networks that may charge you inflated fees.

Unsurprisingly, there are multiple establishments and most of them claim some relation to traditional Bulgarian cuisine. Exceptions include an Italian restaurant for some reason.

There are multiple hotels and guest houses in the village.

There's no post office in the village. If you spot a functioning post box, please report its location.

The obvious options are Veliko Tarnovo and Gorna Oryahovitsa. If you are coming from Tarnovo, you can pass through the latter and head north towards Byala, visiting Nicopolis-ad-Istrum on the way there.