|
|
Centralnorth Bulgaria > Lovech > Surrounding areas
Surrounding areas of Lovech
The Bash Bounar Park is located in the immediate proximity of the town, on the way out to Troyan. There are a lot of small and big caves in the rocky banks of the Ossum River. Bones and tools from the Paleolithic period and the Bronze Era were found in two of them - Vassil Levski Cave and The Tabashka Cave. One can get to the park on foot from the centre of the town in less than an hour. There is a town bus, too.
In the village of Stefanovo, 20 km south-east from Lovech and 27 km north-east from Troyan is the village of Staro Stefanovo Architecture Reserve (the only one on the territory of the region) with over 100 monuments of culture from the beginning and the middle of the 19th century. The first written information dates back to 1515 from the registers of Nikopol sandzhak (district) when the village was called Isvote. Other sources are the taxation records (1624) and Voinugan lists from the beginning of the 18th century. Preserved as an entire ethnographical complex, the village of Stefanovo (until 1949 - Vratsa) during the Ottoman Rule enjoyed the status of a soldiers and dervishko (Turkish monks) village. One of the oldest settlements in the Lovech district with a proven ancient Bulgarian origin. Sites of interest are also the Birth of the Holy Virgin Church built in 1864 by Usta (Master) Gencho Kunchev from Tryavna; Selskata Cheshma (the village drinking-fountain) (1830); Popovoto Bridge (1824) built by Master Marin Hristov from Lovech; the old Tser (Oak tree) - over 1300 years old - around which were the grounds for spiritual services. The first school was set up in 1854 in the house of Priest David Father Superior in the Troyan Monastery up to 1906, follower and a courier of the Apostle Vassil Levski. In 1870 a secret revolutionary committee was founded and often the Apostle and Priest Matei Preobrazhenski - Mitkaloto (the Wanderer) visited the village. A native rebel is Ivanaki Yonkov Kyurkchiyata Vrachancheto, who was among the leaders of the Velchova Zavera (Velchos Conspiracy against the Ottoman Rule), hung by the Turks in 1836. In the village there is a tourist hostel offering 20 beds. Private lodgings are available at the Dzhurovs, Georgievs and Hadzhi Minkovs houses, the last one hosting a rich private ethnographic exhibition. In the area there is an ancient Roman fortress - Kaleto and some Thracian mounds. The village is a favourite place for shooting film productions for its preserved distinctive spirit and architecture. There is a regular bus from Lovech.
The Kukrinsko Hanche (Kakrinas Inn) Museum is located in the village of Kukrina, at the distance of 17 km to the east of Lovech. After the treachery of Pop Krustyo (Krustyo Priest), on 26th December 1872 the Apostle of Bulgarian Freedom Vassil Levski was captured here.
|
