In the 1950s a great Bulgarian writer Dimitur Talev wrote a trilogy - the first book was named: "The Iron Candlestick" - it describes a family from the period of the Bulgarian Awakening. Today I visited the Velianov house in town with my friend Becca and her husband Luke. The lady who showed us around the house happened to bring out an odd object and call it - "an iron candlestick". It sat in front of an old oil lamp in a little opening for a chimney. She explained that before the discovery of the oil lamps men went up to the mountain and got wood from the roots of the pine trees. They cut the big pieces half through and stood them on top of the candlestick to use them for light. 
The owner of the house was Velian Ognev - an artist, may be trained in Italy, who came, married and stayed in town. He painted blue birds right next to the doors to remind himself that trouble stayed outside and happiness was home.
He gave his wife a special guest room called the blue room, where visitors could marvel at the ports of Istanbul and the boats in Venice sailing on the wall behind the typical low turkish style benches covered with rugs. On the other wall there was a horse with the man, himself, painted in European clothes. The old Bansko house was hiding a bit of European glamor.
Velianov house
bgglobe.net
There were other artists born and raised in town who painted icons - Toma Vishanin and the brothers Molerovi. I looked long at Mary - with her warm eyes, red lips and rosy cheeks - fresh and approachable, so unlike the Byzantine saints. Icons shone in their gold halos, deep reds and blues - great achievement for a small renaissance town.
Later when we got home we talked of the grandeur of Vienna, the opera House in Budapest and the beauty of Prague - where Becca and Luke had just been. Here shines a different light - humbler, lesser, unsteady. The light of home.
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