Welcome to Lovech

Spring time here smells of lilac, so it is known as the City of Lilacs. And the river Osam, which crosses it for centuries, washed away its shores and the rumble of the water, running to the Danube, whispers the history of this place. There are different assumptions about the etymology of his name. Some say it means "the city of hunters", others believe that the Thracians called it "city of the river". There is no opinion on this issue, but the fact is irrefutable - the city is one of the oldest in the country. From the Thracian settlement of Melta, through the Roman Presidium he preserved his important role in the Middle Ages, especially during the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. Just at the Lovech fortress, located on the Hissarya Hill, is the decisive battle of 1185, with which the Asenevci rejected the Byzantine power and restored the Bulgarian state. The fortress is one of the last conquered by the Ottomans. Due to the richness of the village during the Renaissance, they gave it the name Alton Lovech, the Golden Lovech. You can see the remains of Lovech fortress in the southern part of the town, entering the architectural and historical reserve "Varosha". No matter how they called it over the centuries today, the map of Bulgaria is recorded as Lovech.
The town of lilacs is located in central northern Bulgaria. 30 km to the north is Pleven, 30 km to the south is Troyan, 30 km to the east is Sevlievo and 150 km to the west is to Sofia. The highest point of Lovech is the Ak Bair hill, situated to the southeast at an altitude of 450 m. The climate is moderate continental with a relatively hot summer and cold winter.
The first thing that will attract your eyes is the symbol of Lovech - the covered bridge, built over the Osum River by Usta Kolyo Ficheto. It has shops, from which you can buy memorabilia souvenirs. The bridge links the new part of the town with Varosha Architectural and Historical Reserve and the only one of Balkan Peninsula and one of four similar in Europe. Walking along it you will reach the old part of the city, located on the right bank of the Osam River. You will be amazed at the narrow winding streets and small houses surrounded by stone walls, courtyards lilies, roses and ivy. All buildings are representatives of the Varosha architecture.
Here is the Vasil Levski Museum, the Ethnographic Museum, the St. Nedelya churches and the Assumption of the Virgin, the building of the school "Joseph I", in which Panayot Pipkov wrote the music of the song "Walk people revived" and places associated with the name of the Apostle of Freedom Vasil Levski, since Lovech was an important center of the Internal Revolutionary Organization. Interestingly, many of the houses in Varosha are habitable. Some are converted into hotels and some are in cozy dining establishments where you can try local Burnania dish or have a clean coffee. The "Stratesh" park with many lilac bushes is a pleasant place to walk, in its eastern part is the Lovech Zoo, famous for its great animal diversity; the Bash Bunar Alley following the curves of the Osam River is a wonderful place for relaxation and the square "Todor Kirkov" with a monument dedicated to it. You can visit the Atanas and Vasil Atanasov Museum Museum and take pictures of the old city bath Delhi Hamam, turned into the only virtual museum of water in Europe. The town is the birthplace of the first Bulgarian cosmonaut Georgi Ivanov.
15 km northeast of Lovech is the Devetashka cave, home of thousands of bats, 18 km east of Kakrinsko hanche, the place where Vasil Levski was captured, and 20 km southeast of the town is the Archaeological Reserve Staro Stefanovo, which has about 100 cultural monuments dating from the beginning and the middle of the 19th century.
Exiting Lovech, you will take with you the scent of lilacs, the coolness of Osam River and the delight of the uniqueness of the Renaissance architecture, bringing together the spirit of the Bulgarian Revival.