Bojentsi is a small village on the northern slopes of the Stara Planina mountains, 16 km east of Gabrovo and 40 km from Veliko Tarnovo. At 750 metres altitude, tucked into the valley of the Bojanka River, the entire village has been declared an architectural and historical reserve.
According to legend, Bojentsi was founded by a noblewoman named Bojana who fled into the mountains with her nine sons after the Ottoman conquest of Veliko Tarnovo in 1393. The village grew through trade and crafts during the Bulgarian Renaissance, and the Bojentsi Architectural Reserve — roughly 120 stone and timber houses along cobbled lanes — survives remarkably intact along both banks of the Bojanka river. The house museums give an unusually clear picture of prosperous Bulgarian domestic life in the early 19th century, with carved wooden ceilings and original furnishings.
Today Bojentsi is known as the birthplace of a disproportionate number of Bulgarian writers, artists, architects, and scientists. The village is very quiet, with a handful of guesthouses in restored Renaissance-era buildings. The Stara Planina walks above the village are excellent, with beech forests and ridge views across the foothills. It makes a good base for a peaceful night or a half-day visit combined with Gabrovo's humour museum.