An international ethnographic conference entitled "The Folklore Crafts - Past, Present, and Future" started Thursday Bulgaria's open architectural museum Etara, located 8 km to the south of the city of Gabrovo in central Bulgaria.

The two-day conference is attended by forty-one museum specialists from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Morocco. The first session on Thursday was dedicated to the 100th birthday of Etara's founder Lazar Donkov.

The architectural ethnographic reserve Etara was opened on September 7, 1964. It is the first museum of its type in Bulgaria, and its main purpose is to present the architecture, lifestyle, and economic development of the Gabrovo region during Bulgaria's National Revival period - in the second half of the 18th and in the 19th century.

During that period the products of the 26 local crafts are exported to cities like Vienna, Marseille, and Cairo.

The open museum includes over 50 buildings and facilities such as typical houses, water mills and craftsmen's workshops. Some of them are located at their original place, whereas others were brought from elsewhere in the region, and assembled in the Etara; still others were constructed as replicas of the original objects.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!