If the name Chiprovtsi sounds familiar to you, it is probably owing to the carpets being made there. Handwoven and adorned with intricate geometrical motifs in bright colours, they are one of the most popular remnants of the old handicrafts in Bulgaria, like the coloured ceramics from the region of Troyan. Many Bulgarians consider their design to be unique, although you can easily distinguish patterns already seen on carpets from Asia Minor and the Middle East.

In the past few years, Chiprovtsi, a small town of 2,300 people in the western part of the Stara Planina near the border with Serbia, has been trying to escape from the shadow of its famous carpets, by developing a future in alternative tourism. The town has several advantages: some well-preserved Revival Period houses, a picturesque mountain landscape and the nearby peak of Midzhur (2,168 m). There is a waterfall and a charming monastery with a young, energetic and welcoming abbot. The Rocks of Belogradchik and the Magura Cave are also comparatively close by.

The disadvantages are the bad roads and pot-holed streets and the ugly downtown area dating from the time of Communism, which is dominated by a monstrous piece of sculpture.

For much of its history Chiprovtsi was far from the image which it now wishes to project; that of an idyllic mountain town in which nothing much happens. The settlement which today tries to attract tourists seeking to escape their hectic city life for a day or a week used to be a busy mining and crafts centre. A cosmopolitan mixture of Saxon miners, Bulgarian craftsmen and merchants from Dubrovnik, its inhabitants travelled all over Europe to study, make careers in the Roman Catholic Church and visit the courts of European monarchs as self-proclaimed diplomats.

Chiprovtsi owes its unusual history to the favourable combination of natural resources, geographical location and a people who were intelligent and bold enough to make use of these advantages.