A Guide to Ottoman Bulgaria

For a country that was for 500 years a part of the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria has relatively few traces of Ottoman heritage in its modern territory. Some of the monuments are well-known, maintained, and generally considered architectural masterpieces, but many have fallen into disrepair or have actively been damaged and even destroyed. This book takes the reader on a whistlestop tour through Bulgaria's best known Ottoman monuments, including the mosques in Sofia, Samokov, Shumen, Plovdiv, Razgrad and Stara Zagora. It will also detour off the beaten track to show some of the lesser but still beautiful and intriguing traces of the Ottoman Empire's Gotse Delchev, Vidin, Ruse, Silistra, Belogradchik, Varna, Suvorovo and Uzundzhovo. With special sections dealing in detail with Ottoman bridges, water fountains and abandoned mosques. A must for everyone interested in Islamic art and architecture in Europe.