The present study includes 82 Ottoman public drinking fountains (çeşme) from different regions of present-day Bulgaria, built in the period from fifteenth to the late nineteenth century. The monuments аre considered in a historical and cultural perspective and are subjected to historical-typological and functional-artistic analysis.

     Prior to the Ottoman conquest in the late fourteenth century there were not public drinking fountains in the Bulgarian lands. It was the Ottomans who — due to the prescriptions of Muslim faith — introduced such fountains to the newly conquered territories.

Introduction

List of Ottoman public fountains under study [in English]

Emergence, spread and typology of Ottoman public fountains in the Bulgarian lands

Fountains at mosques

Fountains attached to other Ottoman buildings

Town fountains (located in neighborhoods, squares and marketplaces)

Countryside fountains

Importance and specifics of fountain inscriptions

Bulgarian public fountains of the Revival period

Bibliography

Glossary of Turkish-Arabic-Persian terms and names

Illustrations

Annotation of the illustrations (in English)

Summary (in English)