page_title: Tower houses in the Balkans
section_title: In Bulgaria
hierarchical_section_title: Tower houses in the Balkans / In Bulgaria
caption_attribution_description: Враца
context_page_description: A distinctive type of Ottoman tower houses developed and were built in the Balkans, as well as in Romania, after the Ottoman conquest in the Middle Ages by both Christian and Muslim communities. The practice began during the decline of Ottoman power in the 17th century and flourished until the early 20th century. The tower houses were typically made out of stone, rose three or four storeys, and were square or rectangular in shape. They served both military and civilian purposes in order to protect the extended family.
context_section_description: Examples of fortified residential towers in Bulgarian lands include the 16th-century Tower of the Meshchii (converted into a clock tower in the 19th century) and the 17th-century Kurtpashov Tower in Vratsa in Bulgaria's northwest. The Pirgova (Pirkova) Tower, similar in purpose but different in design, was built in the southwestern town of Kyustendil in the 14th or 15th century.
  The tower in Teshovo in south Pirin, noted for its relatively sophisticated water conduit and sewage system, is also thought to date to the early Ottoman rule of Bulgaria and may well have been the residence of a local bey.
  Hrelyo's Tower, built in 1334–5 by prōtosebastos Hrelja in the courtyard of the Rila Monastery, is a pre-Ottoman example of an autonomous tower that served residential as well as defensive purposes. Besides featuring habitable floors, the 75 feet (23 m) Hrelyo's Tower also includes an Orthodox chapel on its top floor.
caption: Kurtpashov Tower in Vratsa, Bulgaria
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-HX1", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2012:04:29 14:16:43", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "328", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Image Contrast": "Normal", "Image Saturation": "Normal", "Image Sharpness": "Hard", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Make": "SONY", "Thumbnail Model": "DSC-HX1", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Rotated 90 CW", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail DateTime": "2012:04:29 14:16:43", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "10774", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "14380", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "125", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:04:29 14:16:43", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:04:29 14:16:43", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}