Monkey House

Stefan Stambolov Street in the city of Veliko Tarnovo is one of the masterpieces of master Usta Kolyo Ficheto, namely the famous House with the Monkey. It was built in a typical Revival style in 1849 for the merchant Nikola Koyuv., richly decorated and beautifully painted in rarely seen facade elements for its time. It is said to be the beginning of the picturesque Samovodska bazaar, which is one of the most significant historically preserved symbols for the people of Tarnovo.

For a certain period of time, the famous Tarn revivalist Stefan Penev-Akhtar, who was one of the first Bulgarian collectors of ancient antiquities and the owner of the country’s first private collection of valuable medieval manuscripts and coins, also lived in the house.

The house owes its name to a miniature sculpture of a monkey placed above the main entrance, above which there is a plaque with an inscription. The building consists of three floors with a total width of 6 meters, but compensates for this with a depth of about 15 meters, reaching another street. I.e. the two faces of the house face two different streets.

The second floor of the Monkey House is extremely interesting, which is an interior vestibule lit entirely by the window placed on the ceiling of the third floor. The remaining premises were used for a shop, warehouses and living quarters.

The external decoration of the facade is made of an amazing and unique combination of brick facings with convex figures. It is one of the few such houses in Veliko Tarnovo, impressive with a unique design and interesting interior solutions.

The restoration of the house is according to the project of arch. T. Teofilov, thanks to whom we can touch the magic of the past, managed to preserve the basic idea and structure of the building.

Today, the Monkey House has the status of an architectural monument and has been turned into a museum. We highly recommend you to visit not only it, but also to take a complete walk along the Samovodksa bazaar.