Cities like Elena still keep the Renaissance covenant, and the pages left by scribes, alarmists, and historians show traces of the indestructible zeal of locals who were able not only to survive but to develop.
In addition to legends and legends about the creation of the settlement, documents and monuments that tell the history of the town of Elena as a guardian of the Bulgarian spirit have also reached us.
Cultural progress at that time was related to church activity. It is the temple "St. Nicholas "initiated the creation, preservation and distribution of a bookstore in Helena. Although it was burned by the Kardzhali attack in 1800 in four years, the temple was rebuilt four years later, only for 40 days. When the Turkish authorities sent people for inspection, the inspectors saw a building plastered with lime and coal, driven into the ground, low and inconspicuous. But what remains hidden behind the wall today makes us think about the power and labor of those who built the temple - people who knew that it could be re-destroyed but still erected.
The attacks of the Kardzhali continued. The shortest road between Tarnovo and Thrace passed through the village, as well as the road connecting Bucharest and Constantinople. Due to the location of Elena and the constant attacks, the Clock Tower was built in 1812 in order to be used as an observation and combat tower.
By the middle of the eighteenth century, shops were also operating. The Gulchan Hathysheriff, whose main idea was equality between all imperial subjects, did not interrupt the uptake of crafts, trade, agriculture and animal husbandry. Silk industry began to develop. Despite the Turkish authorities' control over cocoons and additional taxes imposed, around the middle of the century 40 silk processing was already in operation. Before the Liberation, nearly 25 pottery operated. On today's square "Hr. Botev ”Xenumx shop was working in Elena and the place was called the Kuyumdzhia Charshia. Painting, horseshoeing, kurtchikstvo and kondurizhstvo even had their own Esnaf organizations. Tertiary, dulgerism, knife, etc. were also developed.
The Elenians were not only concerned about their livelihood. They were tireless in their attempt to educate themselves. Up to 20 youth studied at the Helena Cell School. The first teacher, Pop Nencho, arrived in Helena in 1740. In addition to being a teacher, he became a preacher and singer in the church. Doyno Stanyuv Robcheto, whose work is the "Doyen's inscription" at the church "St. Nicholas' and the inscriptions at the Hadjikhristov and Hadjikrust fountains, he was also a teacher in Elena and took the role of a leader against the Kurdzhali. Doyno Stanyuv and his teacher transcribed "Slavic-Bulgarian History" by Paisii Hilendarski. Their transcripts are today known as the Kowalni and Elenski.
Doyno's son, Andrei Robowski, became a teacher only 18. He transformed the cell school into a mutual one to train more students. This happened in 1820. By 1830, the students were a hundred, and in the heyday of school, they were studying 500.
In place of Robowski in 1839 he began teaching Manol Statelov, later Dimitar Samovodski, Yurdan Nenov. Each of them made innovations in the school program.
In 1843 Ivan N. Momchilov, who studied in Fr. Andros, at Athens High School and Kherson Seminary. In addition to creating the classroom, he regarded teaching as a patriotic duty and a vocation. This can be seen in his books "Beginning Reading, Second Finishing" and "Writer in the Slavic Language".
Six years later, Nikola Mihaylovski, who graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University, became a teacher in Elena and improved the Momchilov school. Mihailovsky taught prominent national revivalists such as Petko R. Slaveikov, Dobri Voynikov, Nikola Kozlev, Dobri Chintulov. Those who went through the school started teaching all over the country, so PR Slaveikov gave him the name Daskalolivnitsa.
Elena's intelligentsia, lively business life, and seasonal workers who traveled abroad and learned about the different cultures contributed to the emergence of the Chitalishte in the city. The beginning of the "Napredak" Community Center is considered to be the gathering of the last day of 1863 in the home of Hilarion Makariopolski. The place was no accident. Makariopolski later helped to gain church independence and became Metropolitan of Turnovo.
Teacher Nikifor Popkonstantinov accepted the post of chairman of the community center, which was originally housed in a private house. There was a reading room and a library there and in 1873 the play Genoveva was presented.
In addition to being craftsmen and guardians of the Bulgarian enlightenment, the Elenites also organized the Zavera, and later the so-called. Grandfather Nicholas Uprising. People from the area participated in the commemorative Velch Conspiracy and the Hadjistreva Revolt. Philip Totyu, Hadji Dimitar and Panayot Hitov's troops also had deer.
By the time of the Liberation, the village had become a hub of crafts, transcripts and books were created, education was modernized and gradually became secular, a community center was established, and uprisings were established. Slavery failed to stifle the desire and efforts of the Elenites to create and defend what was created. This irresistible spirit, cast in deeds, shows us that it is not the circumstances that determine life, but the one who lives it.
Although the artisan shops have disappeared, the clock tower continues to measure time, and the Progress Community Center continues to play an educational and cultural role in Elena. Guests of the city can visit the birthplace of Hilarion Makariopolski, turned into a museum, and the Daskalolivnitsa architectural and historical complex. In the courtyard of the complex are located the preserved building of the class school, the temple "St. St. Nicholas, the "Kambur Khan," and the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.
Sources: Sirakov, Art. and others. Deer Collection, S., 1968.
