The architectural reservation “Fishing village” – Tutrakan (Turtucaia) This is the only naturally fishing village of its kind in Bulgaria. The architectural reservation is built on the seaside part of the city. Except the fact that you can see different tools, methods and articles that were used for the two main activities in the city – fishing and boat building, one can stay in the restored homes of the fishermen or enjoy local cuisine at a fish restaurant nearby which is also a hotel.
In the “Fishermen Neighbourhood” there are 48 buildings, all monuments. The neighbourhood was set up in the mid nineteenth century and this gives a kind of rebirth. Some houses were built 150-200 years ago, and this makes them particularly valuable. In the past, residents of Tutrakan survived mainly with two trades, both related to the immediate vicinity of the Danube – they were fishermen and boat builders. Fishermen were the most qualified local citizens. Tutrakan boats were used in the entire Bulgarian valley of the great river.
In the early twentieth century the city had seven workshops for boats, and more than half of the population was engaged in fishing. The two periods when Tutrakan was a Romanian territory – from 1 913to 1916 and then from 1919 to 1940 – somewhat violated the local craft traditions, but not the fishing and boat building. During the second occupation these trades helped to survive mainly Tutrakan citizens of Romanian origin, who constituted about 2/3 of the city’s population. The Bulgarians survived on agriculture, shoemaking, blacksmithing and more. The houses in the neighbourhood are of two types. Both are built on a stone foundation – a basement, with a depth of 1.5 – 2 meters. This type of buildings had only 2-3 rooms. The second type of houses are characterized by beams placed horizontally. The lack of the yard is a characteristic of all fishermen houses – the fishermen were not making agriculture. Every house had on the east wall an icon of St. Nikola, where a candle was flickering whenever the owner was fishing.
Most details of everyday life and the lives of local fishermen and craftsmen craft can be seen in the ethnographic museum in Tutrakan. Nearby is the only remaining workshop, which today is a modern factory for boats, yachts and small water bicycles with orders from all over the world.