History

Self-taught genius - Was Kolyu Ficheto truly like that?

On the line between two centuries

The year is 1800 and the Bulgarian Revival is underway. An aspiration of a nation towards change in cultural, socioeconomic, and political life is becoming more tangible. In these eventful times of growth and progress, Nikola Ivanov Fichev was born in Dryanovo village, or as he’s known today as ustà(trans. from Turkish, master) Kolyu Ficheto.
He was called a "self-taught, simple man," yet this should not be interpreted literally. He began his craftsmanship from an early age and continued to evolve even after his public recognition. His skills were not acquired in vain, instead he “gathered” them for many years with great effort. Ficheto perfected every movement of the hand, mastered the subtleties of the craft, looked for inspiration in old books, and drew ideas from secular buildings.

His future was already planned out - at the age of 10 he began to learn a trade and went to apprentice with the master carpenters of Trevna. By the time Ficheto was 23, he had gone through the biggest construction schools at the time, Korchanska and Tarnovska, and had "stolen" his craft from the experienced Bratsig masters. After 13 years of apprenticeship, he was promoted to journeyman, and 13 years after that he was belted a master. During his work with known and unknown masters in Tarnovo, Dobrudja, Vlach, he acquired valuable skills and knowledge about stonework, the construction of churches, bell towers, and bridges. Due to the lack of funds, he remained for a long time a başkali (hired craftsman, without his own practice). Around the 1830s, he moved to Tarnovo with his family, where he worked, but often had to travel around in and around the country.

He had earned a place among the best

During that period the struggle for the separation of the Bulgarian Church from the Patriarchate of Constantinople was already a fact. Frequent disputes arose with the Greek clergy that ended with the excommunication of some. Temples were gradually acquired in Thrace, Mysia and Macedonia, and new ones began to be built. In the 1830s the construction of the Main Church in The Preobrazhensky Monastery began, Dimitar Sofianliata was chosen as a master. Kolyu Ficheto and Ivan Burnata took part in the construction. Half of the church was already built when in 1835 the attempted uprising, known as the Velcho conspiracy, ended in failure and the ustabashi (for whom Ficheto and Bernata worked), was hanged. Despite the obstacles, difficulties, and fear the masters did not leave the church unfinished. In monastic testimonies from that time it is said that Kolyu, Ivan and the rest of the builders hurried to finish the building in a shorter time. For this purpose they redid the molds, making them smaller so that they can "screw up the apish". Thus, the church had looked more unwelcoming, small and ramshackle, but still complete, and was subsequently "revived" by the original frescoes of Zachary Zograf.

In the following year, Kolyu Ficheto began working with another famous craftsman of that time

Ivan Davdata, who had already built a new church in the Tarnovo district, Varosha, in honor of Saint Nicholas. This was also an opportunity for Kolyu to show of his is capability. Because of his skills and hard work, he was noticed by the ustabashi, who eventually made him his successor. During his illness he offered no one other than Kolyu Ficheto the completion of the construction. After the completion of this church Ficheto became famous as a craftsman and received wide public recognition. In addition to his construction knowledge, he had started to master carpentry as well, and his teacher became Stanyu Marangozina from Belitsa. They are also relatives. They worked together on the iconostasis of the Preobrazhensky Monastery in 1838, recognized by a contract preserved in the monastery's library.

A number of remarkable buildings had followed, sculpted by the professional hand of the Grandmaster. In the Kilifarev monastery he built a new cathedral church over two years time, as well as a new residential wing distinguished by his own architectural signature, functionality, and quality. Over the years, he had a lot of business trips abroad. Each and every new place has influenced his work while new forms and details took shape in his imagination, and then it appeared on the facade of another building. After establishing his reputation, Ficheto had boldly weaved creative ideas, symmetrical elements, and new forms into his work. He skillfully uses familiar pilasters which perfectly divide the facade surfaces, and finishes with decorative Lombard arches. During the construction of the next church - Rozhdestvo Bogorodichno in Tarnovo, his name appeared for the first time in the church registers - "architect Kolyu Fiche". In that construction he also used his trademark for the first time - the Fichev double sweep, as it was called later by the architect, George Kozarov. He is also a researcher who dedicated 52 years of his life to study the work of the Grandmaster.

Architect of the Revival

This was followed by the construction of numerous buildings emblematic of the Revival period - churches, private houses, fountains, inns, and later bridges. Thanks to good knowledge of architecture that he accumulated during his 20 years of practice, Kolyu Ficheto is known as a craftsman with an keen eye for detail, extremely accurate in his calculations, executing his creations with extreme precision.

In 1849 he put his own skills to the test by simultaneously starting four churches and several private houses, among them the "Monkey House" in Tarnovo. He used to make a precise wax models and drawings of his buildings. He demonstrated good overseeing skills by managing the work of other craftsmen who has trained with him. All that enabled him to succesfully complete all the construction projects on time and with the characteristic elements of his own style.

The Grandmaster's buildings have been invariably accompanied by the stories of how they were built. The most famous and widespread example is about the construction of the bridge on the Yantra river near Byala. The construction was personally commissioned by Midhat Pasha, a reformist Ottoman statesman who initiated the creation of the First Ottoman Constitution. Before choosing Nikola Fichev for this responsible task, the pasha had consulted with the Polish engineer Ludmil Rola who assured him that such a bridge could not be built in less than four years and three million groszy. French engineers offered to do it for half the amount. Midhat Pasha, who spent a large part of his life in the Bulgarian lands, was already familiar with the work of the famous and respected self-taught master, so he decided to ask him as well. Thus came the famous line of Kolyu Ficheto:

“Pasha Effendi, if I don't build the Byala bridge on my own for 700,000 groszy, take my head!”

And so in 1865 Kolyu Ficheto begins work on the most famous bridge. After two years, a real architectural masterpiece with a length of 276 meters and a width of 9 meters rises above the river Yantra. This couldn't have been possible without the active participation of local volunteers, skilled stonemasons, blacksmiths, and carpenters who came from Gabrovo, Dryanovo, Tryavna and the surrounding settlements. All materials had been calculated with accuracy, and the amount of 700 thousand groszy turned out to be sufficient.

He had created a numerous famous buildings after that

symbols of Revival such as the covered bridge in Lovech and the Church of the Holy Trinity in Svishtov. In 1872 at an advanced age, he took on an order to build a new Ottoman inn in Tarnovo. It is said that he had the strange feeling that it was gonna be for his folk and not the Ottomans. The 60 meter long building was completed after four years. In 1878 the First National Assembly of free Bulgaria was sitting in this same building, now a former Ottoman guesthouse, and the master Kolyu Ficheto was beaming with happiness. Nikola Ivanov Ficheto passed away in 1881 and was buried in Tarnovo.

All these buildings that came out of the talented hands of the self-taught master are significant in many ways, not just as benchmarks of the Revival architecture. His works represent the indomitable Bulgarian spirit of that time. It embodies the will for freedom, independence, equality, and justice in the public, political, and economic life.