The town of Tryavna is located in the northern folds of the picturesque Stara planina Mountain in the valley of Trevnenska River, 440 meters above the sea level. The town lies 245 km from both Sofia and Varna, 170 km from Plovdiv, 219 km from Bourgas, and 130 km from Russe.
Mountain air, evergreen forests, crystal waters, and the beauty of the Bulgarian National Revival houses – all these attract to Tryavna. The town still carries the spirit of its ancestors – famous masons, craftsmen and icon makers.
Traces of the Thracian and Roman ages can be found in the historical and cultural layers on which the town sprang up. Major roads cut trough the Tryavna pass to connect Misia and Thrace. But according the legend the settlement originated during the 12th century during the reign of the Assen brothers.
The earliest document to certify the existence of Tryavna dates back to 1565. During the Ottoman Rule Tryavna was a privileged settlement, whose inhabitants guarded the way through the Balkan to Odrin and Istanbul. Land was both scarce and barren, and this happened to be the main precondition for the rapid development of crafts. The settlement reached its flourishing state at the end of 18th and at the beginning of the 19th century.
It was the arts and crafts of building trade, wood-carving and icon painting that brought about the unfading glory of Tryavna and turned into a two-century major livelihood for the local population. It is not an accident that the well-known Tryavna Art School was established there and is the oldest one in Bulgaria. The names of the master builders Usta Dimitar, Usta Gencho, of the wood-carvers Dimitar Oshanetza, Papa Vitan, Pop Vitanov, and of the icon-painters Zaharievski, Minevski, Minchevski, Vitanovski, Venkovski, and Kanchevski brought the fame of the Tryavna Art School not only in Bulgaria, but also in Vlashko, Serbia, Turkey, and Persia.
The town is the birthplace of Levski’s associate Angel Kanchev, and of the eminent Bulgarian poet Pencho Slaveikov.

Landmarks
The old part of Tryavna was proclaimed for an architectural reserve with about 140 monuments of the National Revival architecture.
Tryavna has preserved the only National Revival set-piece square named after Captain Dyado Nikola. The Clock tower erected in 1844 along with the Arch bridge built in 1845 by Dimitar Sergiov have become into symbols of the town. The oldest building on the square is the church of St.Archangel Michael being a national monument of culture from the Medieval period.
The Tryavna school, built in 1839, ranked among the first secular schools in Bulgaria. Raikova house-museum is a typical example of late National Revival architecture in Tryavna. Daskalovata House which is a museum of woodcarving on “P. Slaveikov” str. is an architecture monument. On the same street is the museum-house Petko and Pencho Slaveikovi. Kalinchevata House is another masterpiece of National Revival architecture in Tryavna. The Museum of icon-painting is in the Czar’s (King’s) Chapel and treasures over 160 icons by old master icon painters. Part of the National Revival heritage is the House-museum Angel Kanchev. In the close proximity is the oldest architectural monument in Tryavna - Pop (Priest) Angel's House. The church ‘St.George’ was constructed and designed by the master-builder Dimitar Sergiov between 1848 and 1852. Interesting also are the “Dyadodobrev’s house” and The house-museum “Ivan Popdimitrov”.

Surrounding areas
The recreation town of Plachkovtzi is situated at the distance of 7 km to the south of Tryavna. The architectural reserve of Bojentzi is 28 km west of Tryavna along the road to Dryanovo. About 18 km north-west are located the cave Bacho Kiro and Dryanovo Monastery. The spa resort of Voneshta voda is 15 km east from Tryavna.