Water facilities

Etar Museum offers a collection, unique in Bulgaria and featuring traditional facilities based on hydropower. It comprises ten sites and is among the large and well-organized collections of European open-air museums. The main characteristic of the collection is that all hydropower facilities are in operation and function the way their analogues did in the past due to the mill-race system that originally existed on the museum's location. This system is arranged at two levels. The first one features a grindstone, fulling mill, karadzheyka (primitive water-mill), valyavitsa fulling mill and a wood-turning lathe for gavanka bowls. The second level is arranged with a braid-making workshop, dolapkinya water-mill, wood-turning lathe for baklitsa flasks, saw-mill and a valyavitsa fulling mill. Presented in their natural environment in real-life sizes and kept in operation too, the traditional water-powered facilities at Etar Museum display a range of rational constructive solutions, the result of the resourceful mind of highlanders who handed down the traditions of using water power over centuries of history.

The saw-mill (bichkidzhiinitsa or struzhnya as it is known in the region of Gabrovo) was used to saw planks and boards. As soon as it emerged, it replaced the large hand-saw called krap. The facility itself is housed by a temporary protective structure. By its side there is large cone-shaped basket in which the water brought to it by the mill-race is injected. The strong flush sets in motion a small water wheel—or dolap, which in turn, with the help of a wooden axle, sets into motion a kurbela (a kind of crankshaft). The gradual passage of the whole log to the saw is done by a cogwheel and a spud—as they move, they work to coil a rope that pulls the frame with the attached log. Wood-turned shafts help push forward the log to the saw. Reproduced at Etar Museum in 1966, the saw-mill is a prototype of the mill in the village of Toplesh from end-19^th century.

Valyavitsa fulling mills are used to felt homespun woolen fabrics —various fleecy rugs and blankets. During their treatment they are softened and become fleecy on the surface. The duration of felting depends on the thickness of the fabric and the temperature of the water — and ranges from 5 to 10 hours. From the 1830s on, fulling mills would be used also to wash coverlets and blankets. Washing takes 20–30 minutes without the use of detergents. Etar Museum features two valyavitsa fulling mills. They display differences in the shape and the position of the water-supply system. One of the mills operates with horizontal rotary motion of the fabrics and the second one operates with vertical beating and spinning. The valyavitsa mill from the village of Etara dates back to end-19^th century. It was found on the museum's location and restored for its opening in 1964. The second mill is a replica of a real valyavitsa mill from end-19^th century which operated in the village of Stokite, Sevlievo region.

In this facility water is driven by means of a big wheel called dolap. Along its periphery it has wooden pails formed in a way that does not let the water pour until the pail turns down, i.e. the dolap is set in motion by the weight of the water. Whereas with the karadzheyka water-mill there is direct drive: perey (horizontal water wheel) —vertical shaft—millstones, with the dolapkinya water-mill the rotating movement of the horizontal shaft on the stones takes place due to a wooden gear (a large cogwheel with wooden teeth called kalkan) and a small crown wheel on the vertical shaft called fener. In this way not only the direction is changed but also the speed is increased. The dolapkinya water-mill was reproduced at Etar Museum in 1966 with reference to a facility that existed in reality at the end of the 19^th century in the village of Delidzhetsi. The original mechanisms were taken from the prototype and brought here.

The name karadzheyka derives from the Turkish word kara meaning black, because in this facility flour was milled without separating the bran, so its color turned out dark. The driving mechanism of the mill consists of a horizontal water wheel (perey), a wooden axle (spindle) and a metal one (maal). On them rests the runner stone which rotates, while the lower stone stands still. The water that sets the perey in motion is taken by the mill-race along a wooden pipe called ralupa or koruba (both meaning hollow tree). The pipe was made from a robust trunk with rotten heartwood. To obtain the needed opening it was scorched and thus the ralupa hollow was protected from rotting. The karadzheyka water mill is the oldest facility in the museum built circa 1780. It is one of the first sites found on location. After restoration work, it was set in operation for the museum's opening on 7 September 1964.

Hydropower was most often applied in braid-making, more particularly at a specific technological stage—plaiting gaytan (braid). Braid was used for decoration of traditional Bulgarian clothing (women's and men's) and of the uniforms of the regular Turkish army before Bulgaria's liberation from the Turkish yoke in 1878. The inception of mechanical braid-plaiting was during the first decades of the 19^th century when the chark was introduced. Chark stands for the first Bulgarian machine developed by Gabrovo blacksmiths. Braid-plaiting charks were arranged in a special building called braid-making odaya (room). It has two floors and is necessarily linked with the mill-race bed. The upper floor is a room in which the machines are assembled while their drive mechanisms are arranged on the entirely wooden flooring. The Braid-making room (workshop) in the exposition of Etar Museum was transferred in 1964 from the locality of Tepavitsite near Gabrovo where it had been in operation since the 1860 s.

In the valleys of the rivers Yantra, Sivek and Strashka the most common craft was making wooden gavanka bowls. Making wooden flasks (called kofa by the locals) was concentrated in the valley of Panicharka River, in the area of the villages of Toplesh, Zeleno darvo and Spantsi. The drive mechanism of the lathe for wooden flasks consists of a wood-turned spindle with ladles hammered in at the tail end by means of which the water flush sets it into motion. On it a small wooden block is hammered in on metal spikes and the block is used to turn items with metal hooks. The lathe for wooden flasks is housed in a small temporary protective structure built of stone and covered with slabs. It differs from the lathe for gavanka bowls by the external wooden pipe taking the water out of the temporary protective structure. All other wood-turnery items are made on the lathe for flasks. Its original place was the locality of Stanisov dol near the village of Toplesh at the end of the 19^th century. It was reproduced at Etar Museum in 1966.

Wood-turnery was highly developed in the upper valley of the river Yantra, and survived for a long time. It brought together the natural givens of the region of Gabrovo (plentiful forests and fast-running waters) and the skill and enterprising spirit of the highlanders.

The lathes were assembled in temporary protective structures with stone walls covered with wooden shells and open at the front. In them the drive mechanism was installed. The lathe as well as all other parts of the facility – the building, the ralupa pipe and lakumitsa (gutter) were made by the turners. Gabrovo turners worked to satisfy not only the needs of the locals. Their items sold well across the Bulgarian lands and abroad, reaching as far as Asia Minor. Wood-turnery brought glory to Gabrovo which was often nicknamed Gavanchester (a word blending the item gavanka bowl with Manchester, a symbol of industrialization).

The items of this trade were diverse in shape, size and purpose. Various items including gavanka bowls, tanur boards, salt-cellars etc. were made. They were of various kinds and had names like sara, chantalak, kankavel, kutel, shashkan, batal… The lathe for gavanka bowls, tanur boards and salt-cellars was in existence at the end-19^th century in the village of Kashlite (today the Gabrovian neighborhood of Yabalka). It was reproduced in 1964 at Etar Museum.

The tepavitsa fulling mill is a primitive facility for mechanical treatment of woolen homespun cloths: frieze, leggings, belts, rugs, and was later used to felt black braid as well. The aim of the process is to strengthen the fabric and make sure it has a fleecy surface. The facility is driven by water. The process of felting, depending on the type of items, takes from 2 to 14 hours. During this time a range of operations is underway – throwing, cutting, pouring hot water, etc. From mid-19^th century on, tepavitsa fulling mills started felting also braid after its first and second dyeing. During that same period the fuller's trade emerged as an autonomous craft. Starting in the early 20^th century, tepavitsa fulling mills began to lose their economic relevance. Only few tepavitsa mills remained active – in the upper section of the river Yantra. In 2019, the only surviving one is at Etar Regional Ethnographic Open-Air Museum. The tepavitsa mill is original, found on location, built in the mid-19^th century. Its owner was Yordan Partenev. In 1963, when construction of the museum began, the mill was half-ruined and upon restoration was put into operation for the museum's opening on 7 September 1964.

Mechanical grindstones using hydropower were common in the valleys of the rivers Yantra and Sivek. Their emergence in Gabrovo is related to the intensive development of cutlery. The use of hydropower increased manifold the effectiveness of sharpening various cutlery items (axes, adzes, knives etc.) The grindstone comprises a horizontal wooden axle (spindle) with hammered-in ladles forming pereys – a variant of water driving. A grinding stone is attached to the spindle. The grindstone is housed by a protective structure built of stone, with a steep roof. From the mill-race bed the water is taken to the water wheel by means of a slanting open furrow. The mechanical grindstone installed for display at Etar Museum in 1964 is a reproduction of an original facility from the first half of the 19^th century found in the locality of Garvanov kamak near Gabrovo.