Ancient
Bulgarians related the name of MELON to the Slavonic word "mel"
(white clay, chalk).
The
town attracts lots of Bulgarian and foreign tourists with its pyramids
shining, golden-yellow, whimsical, shaped on the background of magnificent
Pirin mountain. 380 m. over the sea level, MELNlK is rich in cultural
monuments - pledge and tombstones, architectural details, coins, etc.
During the Traction- epoch here existed a village of the Thracian tribe
"mcdi" which gave the world the great leader of the Roman-
slaves Spariacus.
MELNlK is an old wine
center Melnik wine was highly appreciated at the market of Thessalonica.
The town has been popular as a wine-growing region since l346. The famous
Melnik vine had been brought here from Syria in ancient times. During
the first half of XIII century MFLNIK passed through a great political,
economic and cultural upsurge, when despot Slav, a descendent of Assen
dynasty ruler of the Rhodopes and Pirin mountain during 1209 turned
the town into a capital of an independent feudal principality. Building
developed to a great extent. Most of the house-building ruins are of
that time. According to archaeological investigations
data, residential quarters existed not only at the hill of St. Nicholas
- the main center of mediaeval MFLNIK, but also at its foot in the North.
Much representative was the Boyars House whose ruins may be observed
at Chatala height in the Eastern part of the town.
The Historical Museum
of Melnik is in Pashov's House, built in 1815 with eight premises. Exhibited
here are pieces of ceramics found on the territory of the contemporary
town as well as in the plateau of St. Nicholas Hill (Slav Fortress).
In the ground floor of the Museum you will feel the temptation of the
former numerous Melnik wine cellars with dug-in barrels of sparkle-flowing
wine.
Time has not consigned
to oblivion the legends and facts about old Melnik. Archaeologists claim
that the Thracians were the firs to settle in these parts. Later, the
Romans passed through it and left a unique trace: the ancient Roman
bridge preserved to this day. It is the Slavs, however, who are supposed
to have first given the town its present name - Melnik, after the sand
pyramids (mel) which envelop the town on all sides. It became a part
of the Bulgarian state under Khan Pressiyan (836-852) and within a few
centuries flourished greatly. In the early 13th century Melnik was the
capital city of the independent domain of Lord Alexi Slav, an important
and impregnable fortress and a brisk centre of arts and crafts, of building
and trade. It continued to prosper under Tzar Ivan Assen (1218-1241).
His charter for duty-free trade with the Dubrovnik merchants brought
in together with exquisite goods and artisan skills also a culture imbued
with modern humanism.Melnik became a centre where icon-painters, masters
of ceramics, goldsmiths producing filigree works, and masons who built
churches and houses thrived.
The
vicissitudes of history often changed the rulers of this outlying part
of the Bulgarian state. Under Byzantine domination Melnik became the
place where claimants to the Byzantine throne were exiled. They arrived
with their families and riches, built houses and supported the development
of arts and trade.
The Ottoman conquest ushered in a period of several centuries of oblivion
and decline. Yet Melnik again became famous. The spark of the Bulgarian
National Revival (18th - 19th century) burst earlier into flame here
than in other parts of the country. The town regained its past splendour.
It again became a major cultural and commercial centre. In the late
17th century it emerged as a centre of church decoration and openwork
woodcarving and some time later, as a centre of the fine mural painting.
Many churches and Bulgarian schools were opened. Remarkable works of
architecture were built; theatrical performance, quadrilles and waltzes
began to be played in the parlours of eminent merchants, after Western
fashions. Heavy caravans spread the fame of Melnik wines in the distant
corners od Europe. It matured in deep cellars for several dozen years.
It acquired thickness and flavour which made it much sought after in
Salonica, Athens, Vienna, France, Spain and even in Britain. Several
months after the Russo-Turkish War (1877 - 1878) the Berlin Treaty gave
Melnik back to Turkey and the town lived through the Kresna Uprising
(1878). The town gradually lost its sparkle, and during the Balkan war
(1912 - 1913) which ultimately freed it, it suffered devastation by
fire.
Today Melnik is an architectural reserve, a historical town, a monument
of culture. From the previously rich and prosperous town now remain
what is left of the fortress wall of Lord Slav, houses an wine cellars,
churches and monasteries. Amidst the exotic charm of the natural decor,
they remind one of a romantic tale of olden icons and carved wood, of
splendid frescoes and architectural gems.
The town is an architectural
preserve. Cultural monuments are 96 buildings. The houses are amphitheatrically
situated throughout Melnik golden rocks thus forming tiny streets with
numerous workshops and cellars having wrought gates and shutters. One
cannot leave behind the houses of Sandukchievs, Lambovs, Jankovs and
Daskalevs. But most impressive is Kordopulovs house, built in 1758.
Strong are its two-centuries-old walls. The sunny windows now reflect,
just like in the time of Paissii Hilendarski, everything that happens
down in the streets.
