"Do not spatter with mud to a fountain which you will drink from." Turkish Proverb
The Fountain of the Sultan Mahmud II.
a descriptive of the Fountain
Among the all buildings, monuments, mosques, and fortresses that were built in Varna during the re-construction the city, the fountain of the Sultan was a masterpiece.The construction of the fountain was started in the spring of 1835. The work was entrusted by a group of Bulgarian craftsmen. They cut marble blocks and created a beautiful tap.It was a height of three storey building.
The inscriptions are the work of the great Ottoman calligrapher Mustafa Rakım Efendi.Also He was the mudarris of calligraphy on akçes/coins in the Empire and the calligraphy teacher of the Sultan Mahmud II.He painted the text and decorations on the three tablets. "You could say that flawless architectural lines of the fountain, high poetry inscribed on a plaque, elite calligraphy and jewelry engraving text indicates the presence of iron organization at every stage of the construction of the monument, and the complete absence of amateur improv randomly performers." says Nicolay Savov the Bulgarian historian-author.(thanks to him that now we are able to reach these informations about the fountain.)
The fountain was removed by the Mayor Alexander Vasilev in 1921 after consultation with the Archaeological Society for the construction of the building of the Drama Theatre "Stoyan Bachvarov." Karel Shkorpil who was a Czech teacher and former of Varna Archeological Society(founded in 1901) wrote in his report that the memorial fountain has a important historical significance to Varna.
Todor Strashimirov the Municipal Councilor added that the construction of a new theater behind of the fountain would be a distorted aesthetic harmony between both controversial monuments. In a understandable way, he formally proposed to move the fountain. They decided to move it to Sea Garden/Morska Gradina but it didn't happen so. In two weeks, workers dismantled the upper part of the fountain which the tughra of the Sultan on it. Then the detachable moldings and monolithic marble tablets that weigh several tons.
Except the Sultan's tughra and the tablets, other parts were stowed on a wooden pallet and they were driven by carts to old Roman courtyard behind the church St. Athanasius where they put marbles as a rubble pile. Sultan's tughra and the tablets were taken to backyard of Girls' Highschool today's Archeological Museum.Its future very interesting.
In 1935 General Petar Dimkov who was a Bulgarian spirit and known as the Healer by Bulgarians, had an idea of constructing a mouseleum of Wladyslaw III of Poland ( known as Vladslao III Varnenchik). Dimkov located the Sultan's tughra on the top of the post where Sultan Murad II. commanded in the war of Varna, 1444. This was percieved as Bulgarian gesture by Turkish Consul in Bulgaria and the Consul supported the project with 10.000 Levas. However the Consul did not foresee the reaction of the Turkish Government that the government swiftly recalled him from Bulgaria. When we came to 1940, a small outburst spoiled the silence of the Park Museum-Vladislao Varnenchik. The monument on the post of Sultan Murad II. flew to the base of hill where it stayed for decades. Responsibility for the bombing the monument was taken by a band called "Patriotichna Legionerska Drujina". They explained the bombing as a fulfillment of a program to change the world order. Later in 1964 under the guidance of architect Kamen Goranov the upper part of the fountain was replaced to the command hill, sadly without the Sultan's tughra (? disappeared).
Today it is possible to see the tablets of the fountain that are laid at the backyard of Archeological Museum of Varna. And the upper part of the fountain is located at the command post of Sultan Murad II.(called as Muradova) in Park Museum of Vladislao Varnenchik.
Compiled and Written by Kigarian
Copyright © 2013-Varna1444 All Rights Reserved
The inscriptions are the work of the great Ottoman calligrapher Mustafa Rakım Efendi.Also He was the mudarris of calligraphy on akçes/coins in the Empire and the calligraphy teacher of the Sultan Mahmud II.He painted the text and decorations on the three tablets. "You could say that flawless architectural lines of the fountain, high poetry inscribed on a plaque, elite calligraphy and jewelry engraving text indicates the presence of iron organization at every stage of the construction of the monument, and the complete absence of amateur improv randomly performers." says Nicolay Savov the Bulgarian historian-author.(thanks to him that now we are able to reach these informations about the fountain.)
The fountain was removed by the Mayor Alexander Vasilev in 1921 after consultation with the Archaeological Society for the construction of the building of the Drama Theatre "Stoyan Bachvarov." Karel Shkorpil who was a Czech teacher and former of Varna Archeological Society(founded in 1901) wrote in his report that the memorial fountain has a important historical significance to Varna.
Todor Strashimirov the Municipal Councilor added that the construction of a new theater behind of the fountain would be a distorted aesthetic harmony between both controversial monuments. In a understandable way, he formally proposed to move the fountain. They decided to move it to Sea Garden/Morska Gradina but it didn't happen so. In two weeks, workers dismantled the upper part of the fountain which the tughra of the Sultan on it. Then the detachable moldings and monolithic marble tablets that weigh several tons.
Except the Sultan's tughra and the tablets, other parts were stowed on a wooden pallet and they were driven by carts to old Roman courtyard behind the church St. Athanasius where they put marbles as a rubble pile. Sultan's tughra and the tablets were taken to backyard of Girls' Highschool today's Archeological Museum.Its future very interesting.
In 1935 General Petar Dimkov who was a Bulgarian spirit and known as the Healer by Bulgarians, had an idea of constructing a mouseleum of Wladyslaw III of Poland ( known as Vladslao III Varnenchik). Dimkov located the Sultan's tughra on the top of the post where Sultan Murad II. commanded in the war of Varna, 1444. This was percieved as Bulgarian gesture by Turkish Consul in Bulgaria and the Consul supported the project with 10.000 Levas. However the Consul did not foresee the reaction of the Turkish Government that the government swiftly recalled him from Bulgaria. When we came to 1940, a small outburst spoiled the silence of the Park Museum-Vladislao Varnenchik. The monument on the post of Sultan Murad II. flew to the base of hill where it stayed for decades. Responsibility for the bombing the monument was taken by a band called "Patriotichna Legionerska Drujina". They explained the bombing as a fulfillment of a program to change the world order. Later in 1964 under the guidance of architect Kamen Goranov the upper part of the fountain was replaced to the command hill, sadly without the Sultan's tughra (? disappeared).
Today it is possible to see the tablets of the fountain that are laid at the backyard of Archeological Museum of Varna. And the upper part of the fountain is located at the command post of Sultan Murad II.(called as Muradova) in Park Museum of Vladislao Varnenchik.
Compiled and Written by Kigarian
Copyright © 2013-Varna1444 All Rights Reserved
Archeological Museum of Varna