Каменни релефи по фасадните ъгли на конака в с. Нановица, Момчилградско (Друго мнение)
Stone Reliefs at the Façade Corners of the Konak in the Village of Nanovitsa, Momchilgrad Region (Some Different Argument)

Summary/Abstract: The Konak (the Turkish Administrational Office) in the village of Nanovitsa, Momchilgrad Region, was built in 1267 according to Hijra / 1850–1851 A.D. and is a double-storey stone building, which until recently had been the biggest residential building in the village. Its building was commissioned by Ali Bey – a famous and rich Turk in the region and was inhabited afterwards by Turkish families belonging to his family line. At present, the frame of the Konak has been preserved in a relatively good shape, which has preserved also the decoration of the corners of its façade presenting stone reliefs. The subject of research of the present article is the façade decoration of the Konak. Together with this, a critical analysis is being done of another study of the same decoration, in which facts are not correctly presented and conclusions are not well-grounded. A key factor for adequate interpretation of the cultural and historical significance of the reliefs is their façade location and especially their “exposure” only at the façade corners of the building. This artistic choice determines the necessity to hierarchically unite the reliefs according to their contents in the following groups: 1) apotropaic, or safeguarding; 2) religious; 3) decorative; 4) figure reliefs. The following conclusions have been made: Firstly, compared to the preserved Ottoman-Turkish buildings in Bulgaria, the Konak in the village of Nanovitsa has the richest façade decoration of stone reliefs. This is proved by the 99 reliefs, modeled upon the flat surface of 48 stone blocks. These data give the Konak in Nanovitsa unique artistic quality, in spite of the artistic statute of the reliefs as primitive. Secondly, the stone reliefs at the façade corners of the Konak in the village of Nanovitsa are not of Shi’a nature and they are not connected with the ideology of the heterodox Islam (Bektashism and Alevism). These reliefs have no connection to Christianity, too. Thirdly, the position of the reliefs determines both their selection and their functions. In this respect some of them function as apotropaic symbols, while others – as decorative representations. The religious background of the first owners and inhabitants of the Konak has been depicted by the relief images of a crescent, while the relief images of the number 1267 point to the year according to Hijra (1850–1851), when the relief decoration of the Konak was modeled and its building completed. Fourthly, the façade reliefs of the Konak, being preserved for more than 150 years in the village witness to the structural connection between applied art and residential architecture of the Ottoman Turks in the 19th century throughout the Bulgarian lands. Fifth, both the reliefs and the building of the Konak enrich the fund of the Ottoman Turkish artistic and architectural heritage of contemporary Bulgaria.

• Details
• Contents