Balkan History. Balkan Heritage. Balkan Ethnicity. Montenegro, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Sofia, Serbia. Kosovo. Romania. Alpine Plants, Alpine Plant Hunters. Alpine Plant Hunting. Asphodel.
Rediscovering the Lost Balkans of the Nineteen-Thirties.
 
 
Introduction
Discovering the Archive
 
 
Meet the Authors
 
 
Researching the Archive
 
 
The Archive Itself
 
 
The Participants.
 
 
The Photographer
Who was the photographer?
 
 
Plant Hunting & the Kew Connection
 
 
Adventures of the Travellers
 
 
Then & Now (locations). 1st Series.
1st Series
 
 
Then & Now (locations). 2nd Series.
2nd Series
 
 
Then & Now (locations), 3rd Series.
3rd Series
 
 
Then & Now (locations). 4th Series.
 
 
Unidentified Locations (1st Series)
Towns, Villages & People.
 
 
Unidentified Locations (2nd Series)
Mountains & Landscapes.
 
 
Costumes & Ethnicity
 
 
Bibliography & References
 
 
Acknowledgements & Credits
 
 
To Contact Us
 
 

Then & Now (locations). 4th Series.


Archive File Image 01-19 has now been identified. We now find that the 1929 photograph (above left) was taken in Durmitor National Park in Montenegro.
We wish to credit Neil Cox for the current image: www.neilcoxmisadventures.com.
Archive Image File Ref: 01-19.


In the Spring of 1934 or 1936, one of our Alpine plant hunters, Mrs H P (Maud) Thompson, visited the Royal Botanic Garden in the center of Sofia. Here above we see a view of part of these Gardens, as it was then, and on the right, as it is now. In the distance, Mrs Thompson can be seen talking to the Director, Johann Kellerer, and possibly Prof Boris Stefanov. Left hand image above, recorded by the expedition photographer, the Rev. H. P. Thompson, and the husband of Maud Thompson.
Credits With Thanks:
Right hand image:
Daniel Moses / Google
.
People Identification: Dr. Ana Petrova: ana_petrova@abv.bg
and Dr. Antoaneta Petrova: bgarden@abv.bg.
Archive Image file ref: 01-61.


Above, the only record we have of the parties involved in this visit. From left to right: Maud Thompson., the gardener Joseph Zollikofer., Professor of Botany Boris Stefanov., together with the Director of the Gardens Johann Kellerer. Handwriting? The Expedition Photographer, the Rev. H. P. Thompson.
People I
dentification Credit: Dr. Antoaneta Petrova: bgarden.bas@abv.bg.

N.B. Johann Kellerer, 1859 – 1938, was a talented gardener and specialist for the cultivation of alpine plants. Trained in the Botanical Gardens of Innsbruck (Austria) and Munich (Germany). He was invited in 1896 by the late Bulgarian (botanist) King Ferdinand to Sofia to create Alpine Gardens, but also to escort the King and his sons on botanical excursions through the Bulgarian mountains (e.g. Pirin). In 1926 Kcllerer was appointed director at the Botanical Gardens by the Bulgarian king. In addition to his botanical merits, his name is documented in the nomenclature of several species of Bulgarian flora. Only remnants of his famous Alpine Rock Gardens are still preserved today, and these are in the capital town of Sofia and at  Vrana Palace.

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Here we see on the left two ancient Muslim gravestones recorded by our expedition in the 1930's, and next to the village of Turovi, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Turovi is a village in Trnovo municipality, East Sarajevo. By an extraordinary stroke of luck the same scene has been recently recorded, but from a slightly different vantage point. The nearer stone has suffered some damage over the years. We have seen a reference to these being referred to as Akit gravestones. If anyone can help us on the symbolism and meaning of these stones, we would be very grateful, also their age?
Archive Research: Gregor Murbach.
Photo Credit: 
Esther Tacke. estherwarren.wordpress.com.
 

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Above Left: "The Charcoal Sellers Market". Kriva Palanka Macedonia. 1929.
Kriva Palanka (Macedonia), is a town located in the northeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The town lies near the Deve Bair national border-crossing with Bulgaria. To the right, the utterly transformed modern view.
Image Credit: Unkown.
Archive Image file ref: 02-69.


These are particularly interesting images for European Railway enthusiasts.
Above left we see the station of Martigny Switzerland as of ninety years ago. Our party of travellers passed through here on their way to the Balkans on one of their plant hunting expeditions. To the right, an identical modern view. Suprisingly little has changed to the actual structure of the Station building over almost a century.

Martigny is the capital of the district of Martigny in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It lies at an elevation of 470 meters, and its population is approximately 15,000 inhabitants. It is the junction for roads joining Italy, France and Switzerland. Wikipedia
Archive Image file ref: 02-54.


In the image above left our party has reached Kandersteg in the Swiss Alps on their outward journey to the Balkans. Kandersteg is now a high-altitude resort village in the Bernese Oberland and is the first station to the north of the Lötschberg Tunnel. The same scene today is on the right.
Imege Credit: rail.cc.

Archive Image file ref: 02-43.


Here we see left the Durmitor, as recorded by our mountaineering enthusiasts. The Durmitor is a massif located in northwestern Montenegro. It is part of the Dinaric Alps. Its highest peak, Bobotov Kuk, reaches a height of 2,523 meters. The massif is limited by the Tara River Canyon on the north, the Piva River Canyon on the west, and by the Komarnica River Canyon on the south. To the right a modern view, from a similar, but not identical, viewpoint in what is now the UNESCO Durmitor National Park. Image Credit: Wikipedia
Archive Image file ref: 01-26

*An Appeal to all our Readers.
We at The Sanctuary, together with our European colleagues, have been actively researching this archive now for some six years. It has been a labour of love. It has brought us many new friends and contacts from around the world, and for this we are deeply grateful. The work is still not complete. Our current plans are for a complementary click-through 25 page website, but in Bulgarian. Our aim here is to reach online Balkan readers and help ensure this Balkan Heritage collection is not lost.
If you would like to make a contribution,
no matter how small, to help finance this work and our further researches, then we would be deeply grateful and we would show our appreciation by listing you in our Credits.

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