Samovodska Charshia (market) square is where the people of nearby Samovodene village came to sell their home-grown produce in the second half of the 19th century. The marketplace flourished and spread down the quaint and cobbled Rakovski street, encompassing various inns (Hadji Nikoli's inn, built 1858, is still there today), bakeries and pastry shops and traditional craft workshops. The whole area underwent serious restoration in the mid 1980s to recreate the bustling marketplace of the early 20th century. In among the beautifully renovated houses from the pre- and post-liberation period the visitor can find workshops for pottery, weapons, copper working, wood carving, weaving, icon painting, Turkish sweets and a bakery.