For centuries, merchants and goods travelled along this route to Thessaloniki and Dubrovnik – people of different faiths and from different eras, following the same path. This unbroken flow of people and stories has left its mark on the house in a distinctive way.

The foundations of this house are approximately three centuries old. Its first inhabitants are Catholics; after them come the Gyurginchevi merchants, whose trade routes pass through Thessaloniki and Dubrovnik and whose descendant Ivan Gyurginchev becomes mayor of Kyustendil at the end of the nineteenth century. The house is later renamed Shancheva – after Shana, described by locals as a beautiful, elegant, and modern woman for her time. Today, one can stay the night and taste k'tsana sol – the Kratovo tradition of ground herbs and sea salt from Thessaloniki, prepared in a wooden mortar according to an old recipe.