bg Sofia

Vasil Belenski House

- Georgi Stoykov Rakovski Street 136 -
The construction of the residential building, which started in 1899, was completed in 1903. The construction was commissioned by the Bulgarian Vasil Belenski, who was a clerk at the Audit Office. On November 27, 1912, the famous Bulgarian symbolist poet and revolutionary, Peyo Totev Yavorov and his wife Lora Petkova Karavelova, rent the second floor. Peyo Yavorov was born on January 13, 1878, in the town of and received his high school education in . After 1897, he came into contact with the Internal Macedonian-Edrina Revolutionary Organization (), and from 1901 until 1902, he edited the newspaper called Delo. He was also a supporter of the Armenian Independence Movement and wrote a number of poems about Armenians.
Peyo Yavorov and his family in Chirpan
Most of his poems are romantic and dedicated to the two women in his life, who are and Lora Karavelova. His first love Mina died from tuberculosis, which greatly saddened him. She was buried in the cemetery of Boulogne Billancourt, a suburb of . Later on, he met Lora, with whom he got married in 1912, and the letters correspondence between them was considered evidence of their ardent and vivid love, and thus different from the relationship Yavorov had with Mina.
Peyo Totev Kracholov in 1905
Lora Karavelova, who is the daughter of the Bulgarian politician , was born on November 8, 1886, in Sofia. In 1907, under pressure from her mother, she married Ivan Drenkov, who was a member of the Democratic Party. In 1908, their first child Kiril was born, who died soon after birth, and in 1909, a year later, their second son Petko was born. The marriage proved unsuccessful and was dissolved in June 1912. On September 19, 1912, Lora and Peyo got married and their life together in their home on the second floor lasted from November 27, 1912, until the tragic end on the night of November 30, 1913. On that tragic night, after another scene of jealousy, Lora shot herself. After her, Peyo himself tried to commit suicide but was saved. A murder case was filed against the poet. For the next eleven months, the broken artist lived in misery, until on October 29, 1914, he ended his life.
Lora Petkova Karavelova in 1911
The Bulgarian Major General, Konstantin Biberov Stoyanov, nicknamed the Bloody Cat because of his sinister fame as Sofia's commandant during the years of the White Terror is said to have shot himself on the same floor on , 1944. During the White Terror, hundreds of communists and their sympathizers were killed without trial and sentenced as revenge for the on the church called Holy Sunday in Sofia on April 16, 1925.

In 1963, the building was turned into a museum after long disputes and enormous efforts of Peyo's niece, Ganka Naydenova-Stoilova. The museum houses valuable collections of manuscripts, original photographs, the personal library, the first editions of his works, most of which are autographed, his weapon collection, paintings, graphics, and sculptures.
Konstantin Biberov Stoyanov
The building, which is built in the Art Nouveau style, features loads of geometric forms. Many circular and rectilinear forms have been applied to the facades of the building. The protruded frames that are placed above some of the windows are embellished with six each. The diamond shapes that are placed on the , which are located on every corner, are decorated with the technique of . The part of the building is adorned with a that states that Peyo lived in this building, as well as a with the initials В.Б. (V.B.), which are the initials of the first owner. In front of it, you can see a life-size statue of the Bulgarian poet that contains his signature.
The interior of the museum