Xavier Hommaire de Hell (Xavier Hommaire de Hell, 1812-1848) was a French mining engineer, geologist and geographer, entrusted with a scientific mission by the French government, who passed in October 1846 on his way from Constantinople through Varna, Balchik and Kavarna to Galatsi and I eat. On his expedition, he was accompanied by the artist Jules Joseph Laurens (Jules Joseph Augustin Laurens, 1825-1901), who made several drawings in Varna. One of these drawings is “Les Bulgares des environs de Varna, côte septentrionale (mer Noire)” (Bulgarians near Varna, northern coast (Black Sea).
The lithograph presented here, based on a drawing by Jules Laurent, is the work of the lithographic workshop of Rose-Joseph Lemercier (Rose-Joseph Lemercier, 1803-1887). It was published in Paris in 1854 (Imp. lithog. de Lemercier, à Paris. A Paris, chez Pierre Bertrand)*. In the foreground a Bulgarian family on a buffalo cart, in the background a view of Varna with two mosques, with pointed minarets.
Part of Xavier Omer de Elle’s travel notes from 1846 were published in 1853 by the French illustrated magazine “Illustration” (L’Illustration, Journal Universel), accompanied by engravings by the artist Jules Laurent. In the third part of these notes, published on July 9, 1853, entitled “An Excursion to the Northern Shores of the Black Sea,” de Elle wrote:
“But the appearance of Varna does nothing to justify its title of the capital of a province, for it is only a large dirty village, possessing neither monuments, nor mosques, nor fountains, which are in any way remarkable. The residence of the pasha, the city passes for the hearth of the old Janissary spirit. During the destruction of this great corps, many fugitives took shelter here, and sowed the seeds of resistance and opposition among the population. …
The old fortifications that surround the city extend for more than 4,000 meters. They consist of a fortified bastion and a walled moat, which is about 3.50 meters deep and 14 paces wide. Several small forts communicate with the fortress wall. The system of these fortifications, the management of which has only recently been entrusted to a Russian engineer, is one of the most imperfect. The arsenal and burial ground are in the very center of the town, and offer their carefully whitewashed tables to the enemy’s cannonballs. …
The population is half Bulgarians, half Turks and perhaps amounts to six thousand people.
Devoted to agriculture, Bulgarians show a hard-working, peaceful and hospitable character. Every foreigner who enters a Bulgarian house is sure to find here helpful and selfless hospitality.
But there is something neglected and wild in the appearance of their shepherds, which inspires a certain disgust. Clad from head to foot in lambskins, with their faces hidden under long hemp-colored hair, stocky in appearance, and armed with long, iron-shod clubs, they look like the most natural enemies of any civilization and any government. …
The port is in the most miserable condition. The construction of a breakwater, estimated at 80,000 piastres, again by a Russian engineer, about the time when the fortifications were restored, would probably not have cost more than 12 or 15 thousand. It would be very important to connect the port with a lake some distance away by means of a canal for transport from the many coastal villages.
On his visit to these places the Sultan stopped at Varna only for an hour or two, refusing even to accept the honors of the Governor Pasha – which was attributed to the displeasure of the sovereign reformer against the Janissary spirit of which this city passed for the last unyielding stronghold.
At present a remarkable commercial movement is taking place on the coasts of Bulgaria, to which the attention of France, as well as that of the Porte, ought to be drawn. Mesemvria, Burgas, Varna and Balchik have become for five years centers for significant export of grain foods, wool, cotton, corn, tallow, etc. But Varna, favored by its geographical position and the agricultural abilities of its population, is naturally the most important.
It was only in 1842 that the first European representation was founded in Varna by a French merchant, who was then appointed as an agent of our government. It is difficult to give an idea of all the difficulties he encountered among the competitors, all the local people who exploited and terribly robbed the farmers. Even the French flag was raised in 1844 only after the strongest protest. The extreme indecision of the Marseilles merchants is to be regretted, who make no direct orders at this place, and sell at very high prices their first consignments, without considering the necessity of present sacrifices in view of future successes.
As the weather became really too bad for us to continue our voyage by sea, I settled the account of our Greek rowers, and we set out from Varna on the 6th of October with two horses and a strange Arab (a sort of two-wheeler) under the leadership of a government gavash and an old arabian—both true janissaries.’
(Xavier Hommaire de Hell. Excursion sur les côtes septentrionales de la mer Noire (3e article). // L’Illustration, Journal Universel, No. 541, Vol. XXII, 9 Juillet 1853, p. 25–26; Voyage en Turquie et executed by order of the French government in 1846 and 1848. Paris, P. Bertrand, p. 162-167. 1878). Correspondence and engravings by Vasil Vasilev, Book Publishing House, 1998, pp. 50–54.
* Bibliographie de la France, ou Journal Général. Paris, Chez Pillet Ainé, Libraire, 1854, p. 786 (No. 3921).
** Anastas Angelov. To the history of Varna in the 19th century. Pulsio Print, Sofia, 2019, pp. 35, 38-39.
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