The Tower of Kurt Pasha, a Tiny Castle in the Heart of Vratsa
The Tower of Kurt Pasha is a 17th-century tower house in the centre of Vratsa, in north-western Bulgaria. With its almost windowless walls, projecting top floor and twelve arrow slits, it looks like a small fortress. Today it is an easy and rewarding stop beside the town's historical museum.
It is only about six metres wide, yet the Tower of Kurt Pasha looks like a medieval castle in miniature. It was built as a family home that could also be defended.
The history of the Tower of Kurt Pasha
The tower stands in Vratsa, the largest town of north-western Bulgaria, which lies at the foot of the Vrachanski Balkan range. In Ottoman times the town was recorded as Ivraca, and a census of the early 1550s already listed a mosque, more than eighty Muslim households and twelve Christian neighbourhoods. Vratsa once had several fortified towers of this kind, and two of them still stand in the town centre.
The Tower of Kurt Pasha dates from the seventeenth century. It belongs to a type of habitable defensive tower that appeared in parts of the Balkans during a turbulent and anarchic period of the Ottoman Empire, when a stone house could also serve as a small stronghold. A local feudal lord had it built as a fortified home for his family, known collectively as the Kurtpashovtsi. A legend says that the family descended from medieval Bulgarian nobility and, after converting to Islam under Ottoman rule, kept its lands in the region. It is a local tradition rather than a proven fact.
The tower has a square plan of roughly six metres a side and rises to about eleven metres. It has four levels: a vaulted basement, a ground floor and two upper floors where the family lived. According to the Bulgarian account, the ground floor was reached by a wooden ladder that could be pulled up when danger threatened. The top floor is built out on stone corbels on all four sides, and between the corbels are openings through which boiling liquids could be poured onto attackers, while twelve arrow slits cover the walls. The upper floors are separated by a double layer of beams filled with mortar and stones, a precaution against fire. Bulgarian sources note that the methods of construction echo the fortress-building of the medieval Bulgarian state of the fourteenth century.
Thanks to its lack of windows and its characteristic shape, the tower looks like a small medieval fortress, even though it is smaller and later than the nearby Tower of the Meshchii, which is thought to date from the sixteenth century. Minor conservation work was carried out in late 2011 and the tower was opened to the public. It now holds exhibition space of the Vratsa Regional Historical Museum, next to which it stands, and a souvenir shop on the first floor. Between early 2012 and mid-2013 it was visited by about 40,000 people.
Curious facts about the Tower of Kurt Pasha
- Although its sides measure only about six metres, the tower gives the impression of a medieval castle in miniature.
- A legend says the Kurtpashovtsi family descended from medieval Bulgarian nobility and kept its estates after converting to Islam.
- The entrance level was reached by a wooden ladder that the occupants could pull up when danger arose.
- The top floor has twelve arrow slits, plus openings between the corbels for pouring hot liquids on attackers.
- Beams, mortar and stones between the two upper floors were laid to stop a fire from spreading from one storey to the next.
- In about eighteen months, from early 2012 to mid-2013, the tower welcomed around 40,000 visitors.
Tours near Tower of Kurt Pasha
Experiences in the area that you can book online with Viator:
Half Day Tour around Sofia and the mountains with Thermal Spa
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ATV Off Road Tour Near Sofia Guided Quad Bike Experience
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Plovdiv, Asen's Fortress and Bachkovo Monastery small group tour with pickup
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Full-day Rila Monastery, Stob Pyramids and St Ivan Rilski Cave from Sofia
See details ›Visiting the Tower of Kurt Pasha: what to expect
- The tower stands on the west side of Hristo Botev Square, in the same ensemble as the Drama Theatre, the history museum and the art gallery.
- Inside are temporary exhibitions of the Vratsa Regional Historical Museum and a souvenir shop; check the current opening hours before you go.
- The nearby Tower of the Meshchii, the larger of the two surviving medieval towers in the centre, makes an easy pairing on the same walk.
- The Vratsa history museum is known for the Rogozen treasure, the largest Thracian treasure.
- Around the town are the Ledenika Cave, the Skaklya waterfall and the Vratsata Pass; other pages on this site cover Klisurski Monastery (about 28 km) and Vrachesh Monastery (about 37 km).
Opening hours, access and conditions can change. Check before you go.
Map: where Tower of Kurt Pasha is
Photos of Tower of Kurt Pasha
Questions
What is the Tower of Kurt Pasha?
It is a 17th-century fortified tower house in the centre of Vratsa, built by a local feudal lord as a defensible home for his family. Today it serves as exhibition space and a souvenir shop.
Where is the Tower of Kurt Pasha?
It stands in the centre of Vratsa, in north-western Bulgaria, on the west side of Hristo Botev Square beside the historical museum. Vratsa lies about 112 km north of Sofia.
How old is the Tower of Kurt Pasha?
It was built in the seventeenth century, during the Ottoman period. Bulgarian sources add that some elements follow the fortress-building tradition of the fourteenth century.
How big is the tower?
It has a square plan of roughly six metres a side and is about eleven metres tall, with four levels including the basement.
Who was Kurt Pasha?
The sources do not describe a person by that name. They say the tower was built by a local feudal lord for his family, known as the Kurtpashovtsi, and a legend traces the family to Bulgarian medieval nobility.
What else is there to see near the Tower of Kurt Pasha?
The Tower of the Meshchii and the Vratsa historical museum, with the Rogozen treasure, are close by. The Ledenika Cave and the Skaklya waterfall lie near the town.
Also nearby
Klisurski Monastery
Berkovitsa · a large working nunnery under Todorini Kukli
28 km away
Bozhenishki Urvich
Botevgrad · mountain fortress and a medieval stone inscription
32 km away
Vrachesh Monastery
Botevgrad · active monastery born from a medieval victory
37 km away
Hristo Botev Monument
Botevgrad · 1966 bronze statue of the poet-revolutionary
38 km away