Stefka Georgieva

The most beautifully decorated authentic building amazes everyone with its architecture, its artistic and decorative ornamentation, the interior, the magnificent bathroom. And with its scent. In Hindiliyan,it always smells like roses. The scent comes from the beautiful indoor fountain in the spacious hayeton the second floor, from which constantly circulated rose water, as it had been in the past. The circulation was restored during the last restoration of the house.

Photo. www.oldplovdiv.com

The house was built between 1834 and 1835 for StepanManuk, better known as StepanHindlian, also called Hindiuglu by the Turkish settlers. He was a renowned merchant whose deals at the beginning of the 19th century often led him to India, and hence the name Hindlian, which became the name of the merchant. He is the founder of one of the four wealthiest Armenian families in the city of the hills.

The house is one of the few preserved in its original symmetrical buildings in Plovdiv. It covers a total area of 254 sq. m., Including the outbuildings in the yard. Under an interesting two-story building there is a cellar that covers the entire ground floor.

The rooms on the first floor are smaller and more sheltered from foreign eyes but also colder. The first one provides calmness and undisturbed family life, and the second - salvation from the summer heat of Plovdiv. This was the idea of orienting the facade to the north. It is also thought of the heat in the rooms during the winter. The ceilings here are lower, which provides quicker warming, and the decorative purpose of the alafrangas is replaced by a practical one - the heater is placed there. Up to the second floor is a steep, lateral, one-armed ladder (typical for the early symmetrical Revival houses in Plovdiv).

On the second floor, you can still see the authentic drawings on the walls, including the hand-painted alafrangs. Interesting are the fragments over several of the doors that you can see. In the northern courtyard, to the street, there is a maaza (warehouse) with iron doors and windows that used to store household items. This small building is painted out in the same way as the building itself. Over the door of the maaza you can see a mirror image of the house that also served as a kind of a plan of the building. With the same purpose is the painting over the kitchen door - it is a mirror image of the unofficial "black" part of the house. The ceilings in the house are also part of the overall concept of the rooms and are painted in tune with the corresponding room.

The exterior architectural layout of the building is also rich and varied. The facade of Artin Gidikov Street has been developed asymmetrically with four bay windows and highly moved boards. The greatest attention is paid to the courtyard facade, which has a symmetrical solution with a portico in the middle, drawn in from the facade.

The house has made several innovations in the Revival building. One of them is the built-in reservoir above the roof of the kitchen, where rainwater was collected and drained through pipes in the kitchen, the washing machine, and the bath. The kitchen itself is located in the eastern courtyard, and next to it are the rooms of the housekeepers.

Photo: www.oldplovdiv.com

In addition, Hindliyan also introduced the first floor heating, in the bathroom. It was made of clay pipes through which warm air was passed. The air was heated in the hollow space between the walls of the kitchen and the bathroom by the fire in the hearth. The required hot water for washing and bathing was heated in the bowls and the cold was taken from tanks filled from Maritsa River. The bathroom was the only one at that time in Bulgaria, built of marble and gypsum. It was built on the principle of Roman hypocausts and consists of two rooms. The antechamber and the actual part have arched entrances and domes, through which sunlight enters and gently illuminates the room. Although moisture had its effects, this bathroom is the only one of this type that has been preserved to the present day and can be seen in almost original form. By the end of 2016, the bathroom was restored for the first time in 42 years.

The complex of service rooms - kitchen, laundry, servant premises that are exported outside the main building - is completely preserved. The cellar is also part of it. This independent two-level stone building, with numerous secret places, heavy latches, and metal doors, was an inaccessible fortress for valuable items.

When the Turkish persecution against the Armenians began in 1915, Hindlian left his house and gave it as a home to Armenian refugees. Until 1974, when the house was declared a cultural monument of national importance and started its restoration, there were 23 Armenian families living there.

182 years after the house was built, Hindliyan continues to welcome guests, visitors, and even family celebrations. During the summer season, the now tourist site works from 9 am to 6 pm, and during the winter - from 9 am to 5:30 pm, every weekday.