You hardly imagined that there is a small Bulgarian village where local people and world-famous celebrities can coexist in complete harmony, such as Queen Elizabeth II, Marilyn Monroe, Freddie Mercury, The Beatles, Louis Armstrong, Lech Walesa and many more… Well, I will surprise you… this place is called Staro Zhelezare – the art village of Bulgaria!
Where is located
It’s located in Plovdiv region, on the main road to Starosel (9 km) and only 12 km from Hisarya. The village is an ideal choice for a short detour if you are in the area or traveling on the highway around Plovdiv. You can safely park somewhere along the streets and we chose to park next to one of the newest works of art – the builders of modern Bulgaria, right behind the house of traditions – HERE.
How the drawings appear
Surrealistic absurdity… that’s how Katarzyna Piriankov – Polish woman and wife of the Bulgarian artist Ventzislav Piriankov – describes this art. It’s they who are behind the idea to change the appearance of Staro Zhelezare! The two artists live and work in Poland, and in 2015 they started something that later became an annual Art Festival…
They decide to transform Ventsislav’s family house through various drawings and inscriptions and turn it into an art space. At first, the locals find their idea strange, but eventually it begins to attract their interest. Together with their Polish students, over the next few years, they painted and transformed the walls of the entire village! And the residents of Staro Zhelezare are competing to order drafts with famous landmarks, and there are still many unfulfilled requests…
Through the open Art Gallery in Staro Zhelezare
The whole village is a kind of open-air museum! You can start your tour from the center and wander aimlessly through the streets… At every corner you will be surprised by a new and more creative drawing than the previous one… You will imperceptibly find yourself on the famous MOMA street, where paintings of great artists such as Salvador Dali, Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Frida Kahlo and many others are painted…
A curious fact is that each local resident chooses which celebrity to be depicted next to. This is how many interesting works are obtained, such as Grandmother Velika, who is sitting with the Queen of England. Or grandfather Ivan, sitting on his tractor and pulling a cart on which his granddaughter and Donald Trump are riding. Don’t be surprised when you see Karl Lagerfeld tying the headscarf of an grandmother from Staro Zhelezare…
For a final
The excellent symbiosis between masterpieces of fine art, popular personalities and local residents creates a unique atmosphere of Staro Zhelezare… The locals welcome every visitor who decides to walk through this open art space with a smile. It’s worth a look!
