According to Wikipedia, a barrel organ is a musical instrument. It is a small, portable mechanical organ that plays the same melody by turning a crank. Its inventor is believed to be the Italian Giovanni Barbieri, and the year of its creation is 1702. It has an elongated shape and is known for producing a very distinctive sound. It was carried on the back like a backpack, with a weight of around 50 kg.
Over the years, it became popular in the countries of the Mediterranean region of Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. It was used for entertainment purposes both at home and in public places—taverns, restaurants, cafes, fairs, and festivals. It was also used to perform evening serenades. In Bulgaria, barrel organs mainly came from Italy, and when the leading Florentine company "Turconi", a holder of gold medals from international exhibitions, established a branch factory in Constantinople, most of the barrel organs began coming from there.
In Plovdiv alone, at the beginning of the 20th century, there were 93 barrel organs "working". However, in an old photo shared in one of the Facebook groups, older people recall that a significant number of them were destroyed by water after a severe flood in the city. One of the few that remained was the barrel organ of Bai Dancho. For many years, he was an inseparable part of the color and atmosphere of Old Plovdiv. His usual spot was around the Church of Saints Constantine and Helena, and his music seemed to transport people to another time.
Born in Chirpan, over the years he gradually became one of the unforgettable symbols of Plovdiv. It is known that he studied in the Czech Republic, spoke Czech and German, and in his younger years, he was a bus driver in the city. Some remember that during the winter, he often visited the Christmas market in one of the halls of the Plovdiv Fair. The moment he noticed someone approaching, he would turn the crank, and a symphony of sounds would begin to flow from the instrument.
However, at the beginning of 2008, the barrel organ fell silent forever, and since then, it lives only in the memories of the elders among us.
Photo: An Vas/ Facebook
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