Philip Totyu House Museum

Overview

Philip Totyu was born on April 10, 1830 in the Greek neighborhood near the village of Voneshta Voda, Veliko Tarnovo district. He spent the last years of his life in the town of Dve Mogili. During the Renaissance until the Liberation War, many people from the Balkan villages, driven by misery and famine, sought livelihoods in the fields, where they believed that their bread would be provided. They came here to work as builders, carters, coopers and other crafts. About 70 families settled in the town of Dve Mogili in just one century. Many relatives and friends of Philip Totyu come here. His relatives - brother Valcho and his sister Aglika, together with his mother Ivanka, settled in the village of Ostritsa. Philip Totyu was in a Romanian prison at the time. After the Liberation the duke returned to Bulgaria. His family hearth, which he voluntarily sacrificed in the name of the people, was no more. At the beginning of 1885 he started working as a security guard for the municipality. In the same year he bought a yard of 16 decares next to the river Cherni Lom. He built a small house, built of hedges and plastered with clay, where he lived alone. Plant a large orchard. The house was preserved until 1870. The locals call it the ducal house. There is no suitable environment for active life in the village of Ostritsa for the old rebel. He is not satisfied with the freedom to which he devotes his best years. Around 1892-1893, Philip Totyu bought a house in H. Musa Mahala - Ruse, but did not live there. Around 1895, at an advanced age, the duke married Grandmother Velika. They moved and settled in the town of Dve Mogili. For several years they lived for rent together with Rayko Vodenicharov, their friend. In the father's yard of Velika they built a nice house for the time, arranged in Balkan style. Age and a stressful life speak for themselves. On March 22, 1907, the duke's rebellious heart stopped beating. He is buried in the churchyard - an expression of the greatest respect and gratitude. Many people from the town of Dve Mogili, Ruse and his colleagues from all over the country are present. Panayot Hitov delivered a funeral speech stating: "The terror of the Turkish Empire has died." A monument has been erected over his grave. In 1973, grateful descendants erected a majestic monument in the city center. The large bronze figure of the "flying" duke, rushing forward, reminds of his turbulent and worthy of imitation life. In honor of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Philip Totyu and the 1300th anniversary of the founding of the Bulgarian state, the house inhabited by this indomitable Bulgarian spirit, and in which a big heart stopped beating, has now been turned into a museum.