The Horseman in sgraffito

Author: Milena Damaskova

The eyes of the more observant passers-by on the main Burgas street Bogoridi turn with curiosity to look closely in sgraffito on the building of the Archaeological Museum. These naive contour image of a rider is taken from the tombstone of the famous Marincho Valkov Bimbelov - Marincho the Scarier from Fakia. Legend brings us back to the despot and commander Momchil, who in the first half of the fourteenth century declared himself independent ruler in the Rhodopes and opposed the first invasions of the Turks in the Balkans. The long history of Bimbelov Family name has been told by Balcho Neykov. In the first part of his "Fakia's tradition," completed in the eighties of the nineteen century. Inside he made an interesting life description of more or less known representatives of the brave Belen family (after the end of the seventeenth century called Bimbelovtsi for their wild temper and numerous problems they caused for the Ottoman authorities), reaching Stefan Karadja. This was one of the privileged families between the strongholds defenders of Fakia region. During the Second Bulgarian state they stood at the forefront of the local population, and in the centuries of the Ottoman Empire Bimbelovtsi preserved their rights in return for the duty to guard the roads in Strandzha and serve in the Sultan army during war.

For further information in English, you can contact the Archaeological Department of RHM Burgas [url=http://www.burgasmuseums.bg/index.php?tab=arch&page=contact&lang=en]via the contact form >>[/url]