Nikola Obretenov’s House

At the beginning XVIII c. Baba Tonka's parents moved from Cherven to Ruse and bought a house on today's 35 Chavdar Voyvoda Str. Tonka and Tiho Obretenovi married in 1831 and they sold the house and bought another yard on the bank of the Danube river.

Baba Tonka raised her children in this home and the Ruse Revolutionary Committee was set up here. Documents and weapons were hidden in this building and also Zahari Stoyanov lived here during the summer of 1878 when he wrote “Notes on the Bulgarian Uprising”.

The building, which all citizens of Ruse know as the "Baba Tonka Museum" on 16 Pridunavski Boulevard, was built in 1908 by Nikola Obretenov. Nikola Obretenov, his wife Dimitra, his daughter Tonka, his son-in-law Niko Prosenichkov and their two children, Lilyana and Milkana, lived in this house, which is preserved to this day. In this house, Obretenov meets his associates Stoyan Zaimov and Dimitar Todorov-Dimitro, scientists Mihail Arnaudov and Dimitar Strashimirov, journalists, writers and public figures. Gradually the house of Nikola Obretenov became a museum. Students from all over the country were coming to Ruse to visit Botev's Chetnik and hear his authentic story of the national liberation and his legendary mother.

Nikola Obretenov died in 1939 after active political life before and after the Liberation. His wife, Dimitra, died during the bombing of Ruse in the summer of 1944. The coup on 9th September 1944 and the subsequent events ended the life in this home.