Built in 1861 as the home and business premises for the wealthy money lender ('Saraf' in Bulgarian), this amazing five storey building has a most resilient history, withstanding both the construction of the railway tunnel below it and the 1913 earthquake that destroyed so much of Turnovo.
Today, having retained its original features and decor, it acts as an ethnographic museum and the exhibits that can be seen inside give some insight not only into Bulgarian traditions in general but also typical for this region. One room is dedicated to jewellery, another to costumes and yet another shows examples of ritual breads, painted eggs and a symbolic clay raft with a figurine on it, which is set afloat in the river as part of a ritual for rain. The upper floor is dedicated to a photographic historic record of the town and its people.