Elin Pelin’s native house in the village of Bailovo, Gorna Malina municipality, is an architectural example of a typical Bailovian house from the second half of the 19th century. In issue 87 of the State Gazette of 1979, it was declared a historical cultural monument of national importance.
The house was built in the years before the Liberation, and the part in which the museum exposition is housed today was added by Hristo – Elin Pelin’s brother. On the ground floor, the writer’s father, Ioto Vardzhiata, organized and maintained the first school in the village with his own funds.
The property was donated by the heirs of Elin Pelin to the state and the house was completely restored in 1977 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the writer’s birth by a construction crew from Koprivshtitsa. The same year, the Memorial House was built in the center of the village, which houses the documentary exposition dedicated to the life and creative path of Elin Pelin.
The domestic exhibition with original objects recreates the setting of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the atmosphere in which Elin Pelin grew up and created his first works. The writer’s room is decorated with his personal belongings from the time when he was a teacher in his native village. There is the library of books that the father and brothers brought home, Elin Pelin’s bed, his desk, his inkwell and pen, items related to hunting. In this room, the writer created his first famous stories – “The Windmill”, “The Plague of God”, “Temptation”, “Guest”, “Spring Deception”.
In the vestibule of the house, two portraits are displayed – of Elin Pelin’s father and the most successful oil portrait of the writer, the work of the artist Sergey Ivoilov. In the room called “in kashti”, objects from the village life are arranged – water bottle, nightclothes, hurka with a spindle, a piston for churning oil, minders, the hearth, etc. The most important part of the ordinance is the iconostasis with an icon of St. Mina, which was hand-made by the writer’s father.
In addition to the museum house, the property also has a wide yard with a large walnut tree (the same age as Elin Pelin), a barn that has been converted into a reception room, a shed under which agricultural equipment from that time is collected – a tar truck, a dikan, a fan, a wooden plow and etc.
Since December 7, 1987, the museum collection in the village of Bailovo has been declared the “Elin Pelin” house museum – a branch of the National Literary Museum. Over the years, it has established itself as one of the most interesting and visited literary objects on a national scale.
Work time:
Opening hours:
Tuesday – Saturday: 09:00 – 12:30 and 14:00 – 18:00.
Holidays: Sunday and Monday
Entrance fees:
Regular – BGN 5.
Reduced – BGN 3.
Talk price – BGN 10.
Contacts:
Phone for inquiries and booking: 0879 830 153
