The reading room, the theater and the summer cinema

The initiators for founding the reading room in the village were the teachers, Nastevi family, Siika Kostova and others, but the founder was Iakov D. Matakiev. They created the reading room and the theatre. For the hall for the theatre they used two small shops in the village: Filodorov and Karmov. The year was 1901. The first play was “Doctor of necessity”! The next ones were “Hadji Mihalaki” and “Hashove”. There were also posters for the performances. In 1910-1912 the reading room was founded and it was named “Iakov D. Matakiev” but the name was changed to “Kultura” later. Firstly they used the teacher’s room from the old school for a reading room. The second room they used as a library. Later they tore down the wall between the two rooms and made a hall for the village with chairs for the spectators. The theatrical scenery was painted by the Russian artist Alexander Seergeevich, who lived in Vetren dol. A play by a local author Karmov was shown in this hall. The name of the play was “The new Cleopatra”, named afterwards “The new way”. The present cultural house-reading room was built in 1972. The opening was with the play “Boriana” by Jordan Iovkov. There was a children theatrical group and a school for traditional national dances in this building. There was a hall inside with 300 seats and a balcony with another 100, a library with 6000 books. A cinema existed in this hall until 1992. Many actors from different theatres came to play on Vetren dol scene. A summer cinema existed in the village from 1958 till 1965. The wall still stands. 200 - 250 people gathered to watch the latest films on the benches in the garden of the summer theater. The reading room was a cultural centre for Vetren dol and the surrounding villages for many years.