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The Sredna Gora and the Valley of the Roses
Between the Sredna Gora and Balkan ranges lies the Valley of the Roses (really two valleys: the upper reaches of the Stryama and the upper reaches of the Tundzha), named after the endless rose plantations to which the area owes its wealth. Though the valley is at its best when the rose crop is harvested in May, interest is provided throughout the year by the historic settlements lining the valley floor. Those most deserving of attention are Karlovo, the birthplace of the freedom fighter Vasil Levski and the best preserved of the valley`s market towns; and the region`s most convenient touring base Kazanlak, known both for the Rose Festival, a folkloric bash which attracts visitors in early June, and the Thracian tomb, a remarkable monument to Bulgaria`s ancient antecedents. To the north of Kazanlak lies the Shipka Pass, amidst some of the highest peaks of the Balkan Range, the site of a crucial battle during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. Midway between the valley and the Black Sea, Sliven is the starting point for excursions to the highland craft towns of Kotel and Zheravna. Strictly speaking, these belong to the Balkan Range, but are included in this chapter because they`re more easily visited by those travelling the Sofia-Black Sea route. THE SREDNA GORA . . . So, proudly you may gaze Unto the Sredna Gora, the forest`s single queen, And hear the ring of swords, and all this song can mean ... Pencho Slaveykov, The Song of the Blood The Sredna Gora or "Central Highlands" stretch from the Pancharevo defile outside Sofia almost as far as Yambol on the Thracian plain. With its forests of oak and beech and numerous caves and hot springs, the region was inhabited by humans as early as the fifth millennium BC. The Thracians subsequently left a hoard of gold treasure at Panagyurishte (since moved to the National History Museum in Sofia), and the Romans a crop of ruins at Hisar, but for Bulgarians, the Sredna Gora is best known as the "land of the April Rising", which started in Koprivshtitsa. For tourists, too, this is the region`s highpoint, the peerless National Revival architecture and pastoral beauty making it a must-see. Lying roughly midway between Sofia and Plovdiv, the Sredna Gora is a popular excursion from both towns. Without a car, Koprivshtitsa can only be reached on (the main train line between Sofia and Burgas (a connecting bus meets services), panagyurishte is served by buses from Sofia and trains from Plovdiv, while Hisar can be reached by bus from Karlovo in the Valley of the Roses, or by train from Plovdiv. However, buses do not run across the Sredna Gora range, making trav¬elling from Koprivshtitsa to Panagyurishte hugely inconvenient, with a long detour via Karlovo and Hisar. Koprivshtitsa The small town of KOPRIVSHTITSA (pronounced "Koprivshtitsa") is a lovely ensemble of half-timbered houses nestled in a valley amid wooded hills. It would be an oasis of pastoral calm were it not for the annual descent of summer visitors, drawn by the superb vernacular architecture and the desire to pay homage to a landmark in the nation`s history. From the Place of the Scimitar Charge to the Street of the Counter Attack, there`s hardly a part of town that isn`t named after an episode or participant in the April Rising of 1876, when Bulgaria`s yearn¬ings for freedom from the Ottoman yoke finally boiled over. It was Koprivshtitsa`s role as a centre of commerce that provided the material basis for such an upsurge in national consciousness. Sheep and goat farming formed the backbone of the village`s wealth, and the resulting wool (as well as byproducts, notably carpets and socks) was traded throughout the Levant. By the time of the Rising, Koprivshtitsa had a population of 12,000. After the Liberation, however, commercial life began to be centred on the lowland towns, and places like Koprivshtitsa ceased to develop - leaving it as a kind of fossil. Yet, despite its museum-town status, it remains a working agricultural community, with horse-drawn carts labouring through the narrow streets. Every five years the rural quiet is rent by the Koprivshtitsa music festival, a huge gathering of musicians from all over the country - the next festival is due in 2005. Arrival, i nformation and accommodation Train services stopping at the Koprivshtitsa halt are met by a bus that ferries you 12km south to the town itself. The times of buses back to the train-halt are posted in the bus station, 200m south of the main square; the only other destination listed is Srednogorie. You can cash travellers` cheques at the bank opposite the market (Mon-Fri 8am-noon & 1.35-4.15pm), and make direct-dial calls from the phone outside the April 20 Complex, a huddle of cafes and restaurants grouped around the main square - though be warned that you may not be able to buy the necessary phonecard at the post office. Finding somewhere to stay in Koprivshtitsa is only likely to be difficult during the festival, when it`s wise to reserve weeks ahead. At other times, private rooms can be arranged on the spot by the tourist office on the main square or the Hotel Koprivshtitsa (see below). Many are in fine old houses, with friendly hosts who treat you to rakiya or improvised music. The Hotel Koprivshtitsa (997184/2182) has good views, but sometimes lacks water, and has less character than two pensions that call themselves hotels. The Byaloto Konche (997184/2250), across the road from the Oslekov House, has delight¬ful rooms in the National Revival style, while the Mini Hotel (997184/2932) is in a modern house. There`s also a rarely open tourist hostel in town, and the Barikadite motel (997184/2091) in a highland recreation area 18km away, reached by taking the main road south, going left at the fork and turning left again after 12km. The Town Koprivshtitsa straggles along either side of the River Topolnitsa, whose tribu¬taries divide the town into five quarters (mahala) where stone bridges and the burble of water enhance the beauty of the architecture. More than 380 of the town`s houses date from the National Revival era, the most elaborate from 1842 to 1870, when the symmetrical Plovdiv style took hold. Many have large wooden gates with separate doors for people and wagons; carved stone fountains and troughs adorn the cobbled lanes that wend between them. The total effect is both delicate and rugged, as red, blue and ochre-painted stucco counterpoints the natural tones of wood and stone. The six house-museums open to the public can be visited in any order, but the obvious starting point is the main square, dominated by the stone Apriltsi Mausoleum, inscribed "Let us keep the national liberty for which the heroes of the rising of 1876 fell." Across the way is a hole-in-the-wall tourist office with no set opening hours, which may be able to sell you a combined ticket valid for all the houses. If not, you should be able to buy one at the Oslekov or Kableshkov House. The Oslekov House One of the finest houses in Koprivshtitsa stands just uphill from the main square, on ul. Garanilo. The Oslekov House (Tues-Sun 8am-noon & 1.30-5.30pm) was built in 1856 for the local tax collector and much-travelled entrepreneur, Nincho Oslekov. Its facade is upheld by pillars of cypress wood imported from Lebanon, and decorated with fanciful views of classical cities, by the Samokov craftsman Kosta Zograf (brother of the icon-painter, Zahari Zograf). The upstairs rooms have lovely fretted wooden ceilings, especially in the Red Room, where one of the medallions on the walls shows the original, symmetrical plan of the house, never realized since Oslekov`s neighbours refused to sell him the necessary land. You can imagine him brooding over the rebuff while reclining on the cushioned minder, taking solace from his pipes and hookah, in the room next door. Continuing uphill you`ll come to the Staikov House, whose sienna facade is painted with false columns. It isn`t open, but makes a useful landmark en route to other sights in the vicinity. The Debelyanov House and the Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa On a sidestreet to the north stands the small Debelyanov House (Tues-Sun 8am-noon & 1.30-5.30pm), where the lyrical poet Dimcho Debelyanov was born in 1887. Painted royal blue with a white trim, its timbered upper floor contains a humdrum exposition of his tragically short career, with such personal items as his childhood cradle, and the suitcase of books that accompanied him to war. In the garden is a poignant statue of Dimcho`s mother, vainly awaiting his return from the battlefields of Greece, where he was killed in 1916. An identical statue broods over his grave in the local cemetery, whose inscrip¬tion is from one of his own poems: "Delaying in a gentle dream she becomes her own child." Nearby stands the Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa, built in 1817 on the site of an older church burnt down by the Turks, and partly sunken into the ground to comply with the Ottoman edict that no Christian building should be taller than the local mosque. The interior is rustic in its simplicity, aside from an elaborate iconostasis by Teteven craftsmen, containing several icons by Zahari Zograf. The Kableshkov House Leaving the churchyard by a gate on the far side and turning left, you`ll come to the Kableshkov House (Tues-Sun 8am-noon & 1.30-5.30pm). Built by a local master-craftsman in 1845, its square plan and the combination of one curved and two square oriels on each side reflects the influence of the Plovdiv style. The ground floor preserves the simple living quarters of a reasonably prosperous chorbadzhii family, including a "women`s work room" with a spinning wheel, and the room where Todor Kableshkov was born in 1854. As leader of the local revolutionary cell, it was Kableshkov who ordered the Rising to start ahead of schedule, after Turkish soldiers came to arrest him - a decision made at the "House of the Conspiracy" on a nearby street. Weapons used in the Rising are displayed on the top floor of his home, whose circular vesti¬bule has a wonderful ceiling with an abstract pattern based on the reflection of sunlight on rippling water. Kableshkov was later captured near Troyan, but managed to kill himself with a police revolver in Gabrovo. His statue stands close to the Bridge of the First Shot, where the Rising began. Having killed a guard, the insurgents ran down to storm the Konak, on the square where the Apriltsi Mausoleum now stands. The Lyutov House and beyond Crossing the bridge and heading up ul. Nikola Belodezhdov, you`ll find the white Lyutov House (Mon-Thurs, Sat & Sun 8am-noon & 1.30-5.30pm), dis¬tinguished by its double staircase and yoke-shaped porch, with a lion signifying Bulgarian aspirations for freedom. Built by Plovdiv craftsmen in 1854, the house is famed for its wealth of murals: palaces, temples and travel scenes splashed across the walls and alafranga; wreaths, blossoms and nosegays in the Blue Room; and oval medallions adorning the ceilings. In the vicinity are two other houses with nice exteriors, both from 1855. The Mlatchkov House, on ul. Tumangelova Cheta, has an aquamarine-coloured oper fl°or whose oriel is decorated with a wreath framed by trees. In the other direction, down towards the river, the sienna-red Stariradev House is now the local headquarters of the Socialist Party. Nearer the river stand a handsome pair of civic buildings, financed by local patriots. The former Village School, built in 1837, is now an international centre for the study of Byzantine aesthetics. Nearby stands the Narodno chitalishte, founded in 1869. Ostensibly public reading rooms, the latter played a big part in the National Revival, spreading literacy and nurturing a sense of national identity in towns and villages. From Sredna to Byalo Kamane To see more of life in Koprivshtitsa, take a ramble through the Sredna (Middle) and Byalo Kamane (White Rocks) quarters. Sredna withdraws from an outdoor market into a casbah-like maze of reclusive houses and lanes where elders gossip and goats forage. With luck, you`ll emerge at the Church of Sveti Nikolai, behind a high wall with a belltower above the gateway. Despite the church`s dedi¬cation, its iconostasis dwells on St Spiridion, whose life is told in ten medallions surrounding a figure of the saint. On the corner of the lane is a fountain donated by the Moravenovs, a leading family in the early eighteenth century. Walk downstream and cross the river to reach Byalo Kamane, a mahala of stolid timber buildings on a steep slope, where the Benkovski House (Mon & Wed-Sun 8am-noon & 1.30-5.30pm) recalls another revolutionary. Georgi Benkovski (1844-76) helped to rebuild the clandestine networks set up by Levski, after the latter`s execution. A tailor by profession, he made the rebels` white uniforms and silk banner - embroidered with the Bulgarian Lion and the words svoboda ili smart (Liberty or Death!). During the Rising his cheta wheeled south via Panagyurishte, trying to rally the locals, but was chased northwards and wiped out near Teteven. His career is covered in usual didactic style; among the texts is a quote from the Rising`s chronicler, Stoyanov: "Koprivshtitsa was a republic for centuries, without senators, ministers or presidents; ten times more liberal than France, and a hundred times more democratic than America". On the hillside above the house looms a striking monument to Benkovski, in the form of a Socialist superhero astride a leaping horse. The Karavelov House Returning towards the main square along the east bank of the Topolnitsa, you can visit the Karavelov House (Mon & Wed-Sun 8am-noon & 1.30-5.30pm) near the Freedom Bridge, where Lyuben Karavelov was born. The son of a sheep merchant, his itinerant career was typical of the many patriots who spent years in exile trying to win support for the Bulgarian cause. Educated in Moscow, he was a strong believer in the need to attract Russian and Serbian help, and based himself in Belgrade. His enthusiasm for the idea of a Balkan Federation proved too radical for his hosts, who forced him to flee into Habsburg territory, where he was promptly jailed. Karavelov later found refuge in Bucharest, where he organized the BRCK and for ten years advocated armed struggle in the columns of the emigre newspapers Svoboda and Nezavisimost. After Levski`s execution, however, he repudiated direct action in favour of change through reform and education, and was ousted from the leadership of the committee by Hristo Botev. The house itself contains the usual items of nineteenth-century domestic life plus the printing press on which Karavelov`s newspapers were produced, brought to Bulgaria after the liberation. An adjacent summer house contains the personal effects of his younger brother, Petko, a prominent liberal politician after the Liberation, and twice premier. Eating, drinking and entertainment PANAGYURISH TE/2 1 9 The best places to eat and drink are the cafes outside the April 20 Complex (whose own restaurant is dismal), and the Dyado Liben Inn, across the river. The latter occupies the lovely old Dragilska House, with a restaurant upstairs and a mehana in the courtyard (closed Mon). Other small cafes serve ice creams? drinks and the odd pizza. There`s a fair range of fresh produce sold at the market, held every day except Sunday. Owing to its festival, Koprivshtitsa is a good place to buy CDs or cassettes of Bulgarian music. One of the souvenir kiosks on the main square stocks every¬thing listed in our discography (see p.372). Panagyurishte After Koprivshtitsa, other towns in the Sredna Gora are an anti-climax, particu¬larly PANAGYURISHTE, whose memorials to the Rising hardly compare with Koprivshtitsa`s magnificent houses. With a car, you can consider driving south across the mountains simply for the pleasure of the scenery en route - whereas relying on public transport, it can only be reached by a major detour via the Valley of the Roses, which hardly seems worth it. Another drawback is that the town`s only hotel is closed, so you risk being stranded without a bed after the last bus has left for Hisar or Sofia. The Town Despite its antiquity as a settlement, the existing town is predominantly modern as Panagyurishte was set ablaze by the Turks for its participation in the April Rising. One of the reasons for the Rising`s failure was that the Turks kept control of Strelcha, thus preventing the rebels in Koprivshtitsa from linking up with those in Panagyurishte, and being able to crush them once enough troops had arrived from Pazardzhik and Plovdiv. The obvious starting point is the austerely laid out main square, pl. Pavel Bobekov - named after a local insurgent and overlooked from a hillside to the east by the Memorial to the April Rising, a towering structure typical of the part-modernist, part Socialist Realist style that characterized Bulgaria`s public monuments in the 1970s and 1980s. The memorial is reached by a processional stairway that runs past the Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa (daily 8am-noon & 2-5pm), partially burnt in the aftermath of the Rising. Patches of charred murals (immediately on the left as you enter) have been left in situ as a reminder of the conflagration. The rest of the interior was colourfully decorated by Samokov painters in the 1890s, covering the walls with a pictorial history of the life of the Virgin consisting of more than a hundred individual scenes - each inscribed with the name of the local benefactor who paid for it. West of the main square, ul. Raina Knyaginya heads uphill into what remains of the old town. The two towers of the colonnaded, turquoise-coloured Church of St George precede the Shtarbanova House at no. 26, home to a prominent member of the local rebel government during the Rising. The house forms one part of a complex of buildings holding the town museum (Tues-Sun 8am-noon & 2-5.30pm), that bristles with antique militaria, including a cherry-tree cannon. Opposite the church, across a small square, ul. Oborishte leads to the Raina Knyaginya House-Museum at no. 5 (Tues-Sun 9am-noon & 2-5pm). As a girl, Knyaginya was the rebels` flag-bearer, mockingly nicknamed knyaginya (princ¬ess) by her Turkish captors. Tortured in Plovdiv, and then exiled to Russia, she returned to Bulgaria after the Liberation to become a schoolteacher in Veliko Tarnovo. The house contains sepia family portraits alongside a "Liberty or Death" flag woven by Knyaginya herself in 1901, in memory of the one she had carried during the Rising. She is buried in the garden with her mother and father - the latter a casualty of the Rising. Finally, there`s another monument in a wooded valley several kilometres north of Oborishte, to the west of town, marking the place where leaders of the Sredna Gora underground agreed to launch the Rising on May 1. Unfortunately, there was a spy among them, Nenko Stoyanov, who tipped off the Turks about Kableshkov`s group in Koprivshtitsa, and thus unwittingly precipitated the Rising in April. Practicalities Arriving in town by bus, head up the road beside the stream past a hospital to find the main square, on the right. The train station is a bit further southeast of the centre, down ul. Shiskov. While the the Hotel Kamengrad (0357/2877) on pl. Bobekov is closed for refurbishment, there is no accommodation in Panagyurishte; for eating, you`re limited to a few cafes on the main square Hisar The sleepy spa-town of HISAR holds more appeal than Panagyurishte and etting there involves less of a detour via Karlovo. Situated in the verdant foot¬hills of the Sredna Gora, this was one of the great watering-holes of antiquity: as gold treasures and other finds in neighbouring villages attest, the area was inhab¬ited as long ago as 5000 BC, and formed part of the Macedonian Empire before the arrival of the Romans. It was they who founded the spa, building marble baths, aqueducts, temples and - after raids by the Goths in 251 - fortifications to protect the town, which they called Augusta. Subsequently an episcopal seat, it was devastated by Crusaders despite their appreciation of this "fair town", 150 years before its conquest by the Turks, who restored the baths in the sixteenth century. The name Hisar (the fortress) dates from then; it sometimes appears on maps as "Hisarya". In Communist times Hisar was developed as a health resort for factory workers and bureaucrats; even the Party Central Committee had a rest home here. Despite efforts to woo foreign invalids, it remains a truly Bulgarian resort - and a curiously time-warped one. Middle-aged couples sway to 1950s dance music and children frolic in the parks in a manner that Dimitrov would surely approve, were he still alive. This dolorous, nostalgic ambience is the main reason for visiting Hisar; its Roman walls and mineral baths merely incidental to the experience. The Town A couple of blocks south of the bus and train stations, a sizeable chunk of Hisar`s history confronts visitors in the form of the damaged but still imposing fortress walls, originally 2-3m thick and defended by 43 towers. The Roman builders employed the technique of opus mixtum, bonding stone and brick with red mortar - hence the sobriquet Kizil Kale (red fortress) which the Turks coined when they besieged the town in 1364. The northern wall that runs along bul. Botev is bisected by a promenade, lead¬ing towards the massive Kamilite Gate in the south wall of the fortress, so called after the camels that once passed through it. En route to this you`ll see a pseudo-Grecian colonnade and fountain, where visitors fill bottles with mineral water and have their portraits taken against a backdrop of crumbling fin-de-siecle buildings. Two ruined basilicas dating from the fifth and sixth centuries stand 100m west and 120m south of the gate, while beyond a breach in the southwest corner of the walls lies a fourth-century Roman tomb with frescoed walls, a mosaic floor and two fixed "beds". Stonework, coins and other finds are displayed in a small History Museum (daily 9am-12.30pm & 1.30-6pm) at ul. Stamboliiski 8, one block east of the main drag. Staff at the hotels listed below can supply details of balneological courses at local baths. The Havuz Baths on ul. Stamboliskii were admired by Roman women on account of their beneficial effect on gynecological disorders. You`re obliged to bath naked, as the attendants insist that "swimming costumes are for swimming". The other main complex, Momina Banya, yields radioactive water recommended for liver and gastric complaints. Just lkm east of town, it can be reached by local bus from the train station. The fountain in the centre of town dispenses the product of yet another spring, which is botlled and soldout throughout Bulgaria as Hisar Banya mineral water. Practicalities Hisar`s bus and train stations are a few blocks north of bul. Botev; heading into the centre by bus, you`ll pass the town`s Roman walls. Although several prewar hotels are still signposted in the vicinity of the town fountain, they have degener¬ated into slums, and you should lose no time in heading for two better places 300m down a road turning off bul. Botev just beyond the Orfey restaurant. The Augusta (0337/38215) may close when trade is slack, but the Hisar (0337/2781) functions year-round, and has lots of rooms with nice views. Nightlife is based in the town`s restaurants: romantic ballads at the Balkan restaurant behind the fountain; foxtrot at the Kamilite, beyond the gate; or pop standards at the Orfey on bul. Botev. THE VALLEY OF THE ROSES Lying midway between Sofia and the coast, the Valley of the Roses (Rozovata dolina) is perhaps the most over-hyped region of Bulgaria. A sunbaked and dusty place for most of the summer, in May and early June it`s magically transformed by the blooms that give it its name. For the rest of the year its towns can seem unexciting - "ramshackle collections of unplastered cottages which might have dropped off a lorry" thought Leslie Gardiner, and he wasn`t far wrong. The major towns of Klisura, Sopot, Karlovo and Kalofer all occupy honoured niches in Bulgarian history as the scene of heroic events or the birthplace of writers or national heroes, but - aside from Karlovo - have little that`s worth seeing bevond memorial museums to local sons, captioned in Bulgarian only Chief exception to this rule is Kazanlak, which features a remarkable Thracian tomlb, and hosts the Festival of Roses in June. Within easy reach of the townto the north is the rugged Shipka Pass, heroically defended by Russian and Bulgarian troops during the 1878 War of Liberation. Regular trains from Sofia to Karlovo or Burgas make it easy enough to travel through the valley (although express services don`t stop at the smalleer places en route, and there are few tains of any description between late morning and early evening). Coming down from the Balkan Range via the Troyan of Shipka Pass you can pick up the valley route at Karnare or Kazanlak; Srednogorie and Kariovo are linked by buses or branch-rail lines to both the Sredna Gora and Plovdiv. ROSES: `BULGARIA`S GOLD` The rose-growing area between Klisura and Kazanlak produces seventy percent of the world`s attar - or extract - of roses. Considering that perfumiers pay more than $45 million a year for this, it`s not surprising that roses are known as "Bulgaria`s gold". Rose-growing began as a small cottage industry during the 1830s (suppos¬edly started by a Turkish merchant impressed by the fragrance of the wild Shipka rose), and initially involved small domestic stills comprising a copper cauldron from which water-cooled pipes dripped the greenish-yellow rose oil. It became big busi¬ness early in the twentieth century, but virtually ceased during World War II when Nazi Germany discouraged the industry in order to sell its own ersatz scents -since then Bulgaria`s rose-growers have vastly expanded their operations. Each acre planted with red rosa damascene or white rosa alba yields up to 1400 kilograms of blossom, or roughly three million rosebuds; between 3000 and 6000 kilos are required to make one litre of attar, leaving a residue of rosewater and pulp ` used to make medicaments, flavourings, sladko jam and rosaliika liqueur. The rose bushes (covering over 14,000 acres) are allowed to grow to head height, and are harvested during May between 3am and 8am before the sun rises and evaporates up to half of the oil. Nimble-fingered women and girls do most of the picking, while donkeys are employed to carry the petals away to the modem distilleries around Rozino, Kaniare and Kazanlak. Kazanlak also has a research institute where pesti-cides are tested and different breeds of rose developed; according to the director, its gardens contain every variety in the world. From Sofia to Kazanlak Heading east from Sofia there`s little of great note for the first hundred kilo¬metres or so, although some of the settlements en route provide useful jumping-off points for the Balkan Range to the north or the Sredna Gora to the south. Beyond the broad plain to the east of Sofia, the neighbouring mountains slope down to a succession of saddles and spurs, which the road climbs, passing a motel/campsite near Mirkovo. Non-express trains usually stop at the Zlatitsa and Pirdop suburbs of Srednogorie, a mining town from where a road heads north over the Zlatishki Pass towards Etropole monastery, and buses run south to Panagyurishte. North of Anton village, you`ll see Baba and Vezhen, the first great peaks of the Balkan Range; just beyond the halt for Koprivshtitsa, trains enter a long tunnel beneath the Koznitsa spur, emerging into the Stryama Valley, the upper part of the Valley of the Roses. Bleached and arid from the end of the rose harvest until the autumn, the valley looks surprisingly lush the rest of the year, when groves of fruit trees give way to pastures dotted with wild flowers, and the surrounding hills are covered by deep forests. Despite its dramatic situation at the head of the valley, there`s little reason to stop at KLISURA, although this small town "of tiles and flowers" is lauded for having been burned down during the April Rising, as described in Vazov`s epic Under the Yoke. From here onwards it`s roses all the way - at least during May -with fading posters from the Communist period exhorting the erstwhile collective formers of Rozino - an isolated Turkish-speaking village - to produce more of the valuable blooms. The next small town, Karnare, is the point of departure for buses to Troyan, which take the highest road in Bulgaria, across the scenic Troyan Pass. Sopot Further east along the valley, the nondescript town of SOPOT hardly justifies breaking your journey, but might be worth a brief excursion from neighbouring Karlovo. Sopot`s claim to fame is as the birthplace of Ivan Vazov, Bulgaria`s national" writer, a bronze statue of whom stands on the main square. A stone`s throw to the west lies Vazov`s birthplace, a cluster of buildings around a vine-shaded courtyard, preserved as a museum (Tues-Sun 8am-noon & l-5.30pm). Its furnishings are comfortable but far from ostentatious; the only obvious sign of wealth is some imported porcelain in the guest room. Next to the house is a small parade of reconstructed craft workshops, of a type that used to characterize the local economy. The Sopot of Vazov`s time is also recalled by photographs of contemporaries who provided the basis for characters in Under the Yoke, in another museum devoted to Vazov`s career, housed in a modern building on the north side of the square. Sopot is easily reached from Karlovo, just 5km down the road. Buses (every 15-30min) drop you on the main square opposite the 2-star hotel Stara Planina (^03134/3075; ®), which contains the only restaurant in town. Karlovo Set against a backdrop of lofty, arid crags and hollows descending to slopes partly covered with cypresses and fig trees, KARLOVO is the nicest town in the Valley of the Roses, notwithstanding the dreary apartment blocks that create a bad impression on visitors arriving by train. Hidden uphill, though, is a charming old quarter that`s worthy of exploration, which brings you to the birthplace of the great revolutionary, Vasil Levski. Halfway between the train station and the centre of town, ul. Vasil meets pl. Vasil Levski, an ensemble of nineteenth-century houses around a statue of Levski, grasping a pistol and accompanied by a small lion. Off to the south are the colonnaded basilica of the Church of Sveti Nikola, with its frescoed portico and elegant belltower, and a Town Museum (daily 8am-noon & l-5pm) in a former school, which contains a big folkloric collection. The finest building is the Aleksandrov House on the square`s northeast corner, whose pillared porch and curved gables make it a triumph of National Revival architecture. Just uphill from there, cobbled alleys lead into a quarter full of nineteenth-century houses and spruced-up mansions. One of the nicest (most are still inhab¬ited and therefore not open to the public) is the tan-coloured Hristo Pop Vasiliev House on ul. Evstati Geshev, now a teachers` centre, whose orieled upper storeys and symmetrical appearance show the influence of Plovdiv styles. Another house is painted all over with tromp I`oeil tiles. You`ll emerge at the top of ul. Levski near the Kurshum Dzhamiya (Lead-roofed Mosque), dating from 1485, which has a spacious porch with cedarwood pillars, and a minaret shorn off just above roof level. Further uphill lies pl. 20 Yuli, a split-level mix of fi.n-de-sie.de and postwar edifices that forms the centre. Heading off past the cinema and a nineteenth-century clocktower, you`ll espy the Vasil Levski House-Museum (Tues-Sun gam-noon & l-5.30pm), behind a low wall on the left. A simple quadrangle with a verandah, its living quarters are austere, the only ornamentation provided by a single shelf with pewter dishes arranged along it. Levski`s mother worked at the boyadzhiinitsa (dyeing shed), which is today filled with earthenware pots and balls of coloured cord. Behind the house, an exhibition hall harbours photo¬graphs of Levski and his comrades in the First and Second Bulgarian Legions; among other slogans and texts is a list of the many pseudonyms that he used when travelling incognito. Practicalities Karlovo`s train station lies about lkm downhill from the centre; head straight across the park outside and up ul. Vasil to reach the sights, or bear left to find the bus station. You should be able to see all of Karlovo`s sights (and make a short trip to Sopot into the bargain) in the space of a day, but if you wish to stay the night, however, there`s the Hemus Hotel (0335/4597), a family-run pension at ul. Levski 87, two blocks north of the station, or the 2-star Rozova dolina (0335/3380) on the main square in the upper part of town. There`s a restau¬rant in the latter, and a few cafes on pl. Levski. Between Karlovo and Kazanlak Whether travellers heading east see vineyards, tobacco plants or roses depends on the season, but whatever the time of year you`ll pass some of the grandest peaks in the Balkans. Crossing the Staga ridge, which joins the Sredna Gora to the Balkan Range, the road enters the small town of KALOFER, nestled in a lovely valley, and cut through by the River Tundzha. Like Karlovo, it has an attractive old quarter, and is indelibly associated with another revolutionary Hristo Botev (1848-76), whose ubiquitous portrait has become a Che Guevara style icon. Perhaps the most romantic figure in Bulgaria`s pantheon of heroes, Botev imbibed patriotism from his father and radical ideals while studying at Odessa after which he gravitated towards the Bulgarian emigre community in Bessarabia before returning home in 1867. Scornful of compromise, he was soon exiled for preaching "Stop buying and selling, bickering and cheating, strutting and grovell¬ing!", and went to Bucharest in search of the Revolutionary Committee. There he shared a garret with Levski and worked with Karavelov on Budilnik (Alarm), Zname (Banner) and other papers, writing eulogies to liberty and the legendary haidut, Hadzhi Dimitar. A Utopian socialist, and a man of action, Botev responded to news of the April Rising by hijacking a steamer and landing with two hundred men to aid the rebels, but was killed in action near Vratsa (see p. 128). A heroic-modernist statue of Botev overlooks the main square from the foot hills of the highest peak in the Balkan range (2376m), which now bears his name. Botev`s exploits are detailed in a large museum (Tues-Sun 8am-noon & 2-5.30pm), whose prize exhibit is the press used to print Zname. If asked, the cura¬tors will unlock the tiny cottage next door, where Botev was born: an even simpler dwelling than Levski`s childhood home. As Karlovo`s station is several kilometres outside town, all trains are met by bus. The stationmaster might hold your baggage while you check out the sights, before catching the next train on to Kazanlak. If not - and the nearby hills tempt one to linger - rooms and meals are available at the Hotel Roza (993133/2234), near the museum. The Byala Reka campsite, 4km west of town, has bungalows. As you continue east, the valley starts to level out, though the uncompromising presence of the Balkan Mountains remains to the north. The main interest before reaching Kazanlak is the Lake Koprinka Dam, built by forced labour between 1947 and 1955 in order to create an artificial lake holding 21 billion gallons of water, which permits the irrigation of 100,000 acres of land around Stara Zagora and Kazanlak. Kazanlak The "capital" of the rose-growing region, KAZANLAK is at its liveliest in early July, when it hosts the annual Festival of Roses (Praznik na Rozata). Rich in folkloric displays and "rose-picking ritual", this is basically a tourist event - the rose crop has already been harvested during May or June. Should you wish to attend, check precise dates of what`s on with the Bulgarian National Tourist Office in your home country, and try to book rooms in advance. At other times the town is fairly quiet, though the richly painted Thracian Tomb on the outskirts makes Kazanlak an essential stop-off for anyone remotely interested in the Bulgarians` ancient antecedents. However, as the local hotels are pricey, and were are regular buses to the Shipka Pass, it`s worth considering staying there instead. Some history The area around Kazanlak has attracted successive waves of settlers and invaders, not least because of its strategic importance in controlling the southern approaches to the Shipka Pass. In ancient times, the Tundzha Valley was the domain of the Thracian Odrysae, who exploited the vacuum left by the retreat of Persian power in the fifth century BC to forge a powerful tribal state on the southern slopes of the Balkan Range. Their power was temporarily broken by Philip II of Macedon in 342 BC, but they re-emerged a generation later under King Seuthes III, an unruly vassal of Alexander the Great`s successor Lusimachus, who built a new capital, Seuthopolis, 7km west of present-day l Kazanlak - now submerged beneath the lake created by the Lake Koprinka dam. Seuthopolis soon fell into decline, and a deluge of Celts occurred around 280 BC many of whom settled in the plain just east of Kazanlak. There was a fortified medieval Bulgarian settlement at Kran, just to the northwest, but the town of Kazanlak itself is relatively modern, dating from the Ottoman occupation. Its name loosely translates as the "place of the copper cauldrons", a likely reference to the giant stills in which rose oil was prepared. By the turn of the century Kazanlak`s streets were filled with the shops and store-houses of the rose merchants - a breed of Balkan trader that has long since disappeared, squeezed out by social ownership and state control. Another legacy of the Communist era is the Arsenal Factory south of Kazanlak, which produces the best Kalashnikovs outside of the ex-Soviet Union - making this a town truly dedicated to Guns `n` Roses. Arrival and accommodation Kazanlak`s train and bus stations are just south of the centre on ul. Sofronii Vrachanski - a five-minute walk up bul. Rozova dolina brings you to the main square, flanked by two hotels. If you can`t afford the opulent 3-star Kazanlak (0431/27210), there`s the dowdier Roza (0431/14703) nearby, or the private Hotel Vesta (=0431/47740; ®), behind the House of Culture, which has stylish rooms with double beds, for slightly more. The Krdnsko Hanche motel (0431/24239) and campsite (May-Oct; 0431/24239), 4km north of town on the Shipka road, can be reached by bus #5 or #6. Cheaper alternatives include staying at the Shipka Pass - which is quite feasible given the frequency of buses from town - or at Sevtopolis campsite (May-Oct; 0431/3940), in a pleas¬ant spot by the Lake Koprinka dam, near the village of Dolno Sahrane, 13km west of Kazanlak on the road to Kalofer. The Town The hotels and civic buildings of Kazanlak`s main square - pl. Sevtopolis -present an uncompromisingly modern contrast to the remnants of the prewar town that straggle untidily westwards. The nineteenth-century Church of the Assumption, behind the Hotel Roza, contains an exquisite iconostasis carved by Debar craftsmen, while a host of finds from ancient Seuthopolis are displayed in the basement of the Iskra Museum (Mon-Fri 8am-noon & l-5pm). Diagrams of the city`s street plan show it to have been an ambitious undertaking, built from scratch on a grid pattern based on the theories of Hippodamus of Miletus, the doyen of Hellenistic town planners. Weapons, pottery, and coins minted by Seuthes III help to illustrate life in his capital, while the reconstructed floor plans of domestic houses reveal the bowl-like depressions that served as cult hearths, for appeals to tribal deities. Upstairs is a gallery exhibiting mediocre modern works and a collection of icons from local churches. Tyulbeto Park, the site of two renowned funerary monuments, lies a further ten minutes` walk to the northeast, on the far bank of the Starata Reka. A stairway beyond the park gates ascends to the skeletal remains of the Turbe of Lala Shah in Pasha, conqueror of much of Bulgaria and first Ottoman governor of Rumelia. He fell in battle here, and it`s thought that his entrails were interred on the spot before the rest of him was carried back to Bursa (probably embalmed in honey) to be buried in a much finer turbe closer to home. The Thracian Tomb Immediately behind the turbe is a protective structure built over Kazanlak`s Thracian Tomb, site of a late fourth- or early third-century BC burial chamber, unearthed by chance in 1944 during the construction of an air-raid post. Its fres- cos are so delicate that only scholars with authorization from the Ministry of Culture may enter (and only then with a good reason), but the replica (daily 8.30am-noon & 1.30-6pm), built 50m east along the path, is an atmospheric enough re-creation. Once inside, the domed burial chamber is approached through a narrow corri¬dor decorated by two bands of murals - one ornamented with plant and architec¬tural motifs, the other displaying battle scenes. The floor and walls are stained a deep red, while in the cupola are the paintings for which the tomb is famed. They depict a procession of horses and servants approaching the chieftain for whom the tomb was built, who sits behind a low table laden with food. His wife, face downcast in mourning, reposes on an elaborate throne beside him, and the couple touch hands in a tender gesture of farewell. A bowl of fruit is offered to the deceased by a female figure to the right, who has been linked with both the Great Mother Goddess common to Thracian tribes, and the queen of the Underworld in the Greek pantheon, Persephone. Racing chariots wheel around the apex of the dome, a possible reference to the games that often accompanied a Thracian funeral (see below). With its graceful composition and naturalistic details, the painting is a masterpiece of Hellenistic art, although opinions differ as to whether the frescos are the work of an itinerant Greek master or an inspired local. THE THRACIAN WAY OF DEATH The Bulgarian countryside is dotted with Thracian burial mounds, or mogili, the majority of which remain unexcavated. They were erected by a society that obvi¬ously thought it important to honour the illustrious dead with the construction of a fitting tomb, and thai may have practised a form of ancestor-worship which involved the deification of tribal kings and chieftains. According to Herodotus, deceased Thracian nobles were laid out for three days before a funeral feast of "various sacrificial animals" which followed "a short period of wailing and mourning". After the corpse was buried or cremated, a "tumulus of soil" was raided, and "various competitive games" were organized, "the biggest prize being awarded for wrestling". Herodotus notes. elsewhere that in those tribes where polygamy was practised, the wives of a dead warrior would compete for the honour of being buried with him. This- assertion is borne out by the evidence of some of the excavated tumuli, where `the bones of speedily dispatched young females have been found lying near to those of the chieftain. In many cases, however, the deceased had to make do with the company of his lavourite horse. It appears that the Thracians did not fear death overmuch. According to many ancient sources, the Thracians believed in the existence of a soul which, separate from the body, was capable of enjoying an afterlife. It is not known whether this conception of life after death applied to everybody, or merely to an elite group of tribal chieftains and priest-kings; but Herodotus relates how certain tribes mourned the birth of children, and celebrated the death of their elders - as if the latter event represented release from the misery of the material world. Thracian beliefs about the immortality of the soul undoubtedly spread southward to Greece, where they contributed to the development of cults such as Orphism. The Ethnographic Complex At the fork in the road below the park, ul. Knyaz Mirski runs off beside an Ethnographic Complex (daily 8am-noon & 3-5pm) of several nineteenth century houses furnished in period style, facing a derelict church, and the Dechko Uzunov House-Museum (same times) recalling a local realist painter of the inter-war years - worth a look while you`re in the vicinity, but nothing special. The Museum of the Rose Industry Bulgarians recall nostalgically how the rose industry was before modernization and relish the adventures of Baya Ganyu, the rascally peddler of rose oil and rugs invented by nineteenth-century writer Aleko Konstantinov. If such tales fire your imagination, you might want to make the trek out to the Museum of the Rose Industry (muzeyna rozovata; May-Oct daily 9am-noon & l-5pm) - best by bus #5 or #6, rather than by trying to find your way from the park. Though there`s relatively little information given in English, the museum successfully conveys an idea of how rose jam, toothpaste, eau-de-cologne, jelly, rosaliika and, of course, attar of roses are produced. Eating and drinking Compared to most Bulgarian provincial towns, eating and drinking in Kazanlak is good. The Kapital Restaurant in the House of Culture offers a wider menu and tastier dishes than usual, while the Hotel Kazanlak plays classical rather than pop music in its dining hall, and has a late-night bar on the top floor. Local youths hang out at the cheaper cafes and sladkarnitsi around pl. Sevtopolis. The Shipka Pass For drama and majestic vistas, few routes in Bulgaria match crossing the SHIPKA PASS. Particularly at sunset, when the mountains darken and a chill wind disperses the tourists, you can feel something of the pass`s potent historical significance. Ever since Alexander the Great drove back a force of Triballi here in 335 BC, control of Shipka has been an important strategic imperative. When present-day Bulgarians think of Shipka, however, they recall the Russo-Turkish War, when 6000 Russians and Bulgarians resisted a 27,000-strong Ottoman force that had been dispatched northwards to break the siege of Plevna (modern-day Pleven) in August 1877. Snow exacerbated the hardships of Radetsky`s ill-equipped Bulgarian volunteers (many of whom had been civilians in Gabrovo just days before), and despite the local women who brought supplier the defenders` ammunition was exhausted by the third day of the battle and they resorted to throwing rocks, tree trunks and finally corpses at the Turks. The pass held, however, and in due time Plevna surrendered, whereupon the Russians reinforced Radetsky`s army and ordered it to fight its way down the snowy moun¬tainside to defeat the remaining 22,000 Ottoman troops outside Kazanlak - which it did. The journey across the mountains between Kazanlak and Gabrovo takes about ninety minutes by bus, and it`s wise to book seats when leaving either town -even if you`re planning to stop halfway and then continue on or return by a later service (there are usually some empty seats by the time buses reach the pass). Most visitors head for three major destinations around Shipka: the scenery and war memorials of the summit itself; the neighbouring Mt Buzludzha, where renowned haidut Hadzhi Dimitar bit the dust; and the Shipka Memorial Church, just 12km north of Kazanlak. The Memorial Church From a stop near the corner of Sofronii Vrachanski and Rozova dolina in Kazanlak, you can catch bus #6 out to Shipka village, a rustic huddle of build¬ings a little way off the main road to the pass. From the wooded hillside rise the gold onion domes of the Shipka Memorial Church (daily 8.30am-4.30pm), built after the Liberation as a monument to both Russian and Bulgarian dead. Conceived by philanthropic Russian aristocrats and financed by public dona¬tions, the edifice was modelled on Muscovite churches of the seventeenth century. The church is a vibrantly coloured confection of pinks and greens, topped off with a fifty-metre-high spire on the bell tower. Its interior, the work of Bulgarian artists under the direction of the Russian painter Pomerantsev, is perhaps the best example of the academic realist style that flourished in Bulgaria around the turn of the century. Folk-influenced floral and geometric patterns rich in primary colours weave their way around naturalistic depictions of Bulgarian saints and tsars. Many of them are dressed in Byzantine costume, a reminder of the pre-World War I days when Bulgaria`s desire to extend its frontiers towards the former imperial capital was reflected in a passion for all things Byzantine. At the western end of the church, murals portray great figures from Russian history, including fourteenth-century ruler Dmitri Donskoi being blessed before going off to smite the Tatars; and an allegorical scene of Cyril and Methodius bringing literacy to the Slavs. The pass Though the pass itself has degenerated into a truck-stop, it`s impossible not to be awed - and exhausted - by the final ascent of Mt Stoletov, whose summit the Bulgarians held during the battle, and which overlooks the pass. Visitors struggle up five hundred steps, past heroic bas-reliefs, to reach the towering stone Freedom Monument, erected in the 1890s, which commands a glorious pano¬rama of the Sredna Gora and the Valley of the Roses (the monument itself can be seen from Kazanlak). The tower contains a symbolic sarcophagus and a museum of weapons and paintings detailing each phase of the battle, but the real lure is the observation platform on the roof, affording superb views of the moun¬tains. From here you can see the Russian cemetery, 300m to the northwest, which is the largest of the many concentrations of cannon and gravestones Planted on the slopes of surrounding hills. Staying at the Shipka Pass is a good alternative to the overpriced hotels of Kazanlak and Gabrovo. The family-run Sveti Nikola (9434/2765), behind the row of kiosks near the bus stop, is cosier than the Shipka Hotel (066/29119), used by tour groups. There`s also a rather forlorn campsite (mid-May to Sept) with chalets, 800m down the road towards Gabrovo. Don`t miss sampling the buflalo-milk yogurt, a local speciality sold at the pass. Mt Buzludzha From the pass a sideroad runs 12km east to Mt Buzludzha, topped by a bizarre structure resembling a spaceship come to earth, that counterpoints the monu¬ment at Shipka. It was on Mt Buzludzha that Hadzhi Dimitar and his rebels died fighting the Turks on August 2, 1868; the Bulgarian Socialist Party was founded on the same day in 1891, following a clandestine congress, also on the mountain -the museum within the "spaceship" covers both events. Alas, this gem of Communist kitsch can only be reached by car (or hitching), as there are no longer any buses from Kazanlak; rooms are available at the Star Hotel. STARA ZAG ORA/233 BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE Roses East of Kazanlak the Tundzha Valley broadens out, although it continues to be flanked by the wall of the Balkan Range and the lower, wooded hills of the Sredna Gora. Lurking on the far side of the latter is Stara Zagora, Bulgaria`s sixth-largest city, with a population of 135,000. Home to one of the most important Neolithic sites in Europe, Stara Zagora warrants at least a brief detour, especially for those travelling southward from the Valley of the Roses towards Plovdiv, Haskovo, Kardzhali or Turkey - all are easily accessible by train from here. If heading east from Stara Zagora towards the coast you`ll pass through Yambol, an industrial town with two examples of early Ottoman architecture, worth seeing if time allows. A much more obvious place to stop off on the way to the coast is Sliven, the most important town between the Valley of the Roses and the sea. Lying snug beneath the craggy Balkan Range, it is a good base from which to explore the Blue Rocks or the historic craft villages of Kotel and Zheravna, in the moun¬tains to the north. Stara Zagora STARA ZAGORA means "Old Town Behind the Mountain", an apt name for this settlement on the far flanks of the eastern Sredna Gora, at the crossroads of two Roman trade routes, and commanding a fertile area still noted for its wheat and fruit orchards. Under Ottoman rule Stara Zagora was one of the centres of the Bulgarian renaissance, and its school attracted such pupils as Levski, Botev and Raina Knyaginya. Burned down by the Turks in 1877 for welcoming the Russian army of General Gurko, and subsequently rebuilt on a strict grid-plan, today the city has an urbane, modern appearance, centring on leafy boulevards and lively cafes. The Town The heart of town is the Pazarska or City Garden, near the intersection of the main east-west and north-south thoroughfares, bul. Tsar Simeon Veliki and bul. Ruski. Toddlers, pensioners and lovers revel in its shady nooks and paths, while a kids` train and a row of booksellers run off towards the Eski Dzhamiya (old Mosque). Built in 1409, this squat edifice has a seventeen-metre-wide dome that was seen as an architectural feat at the time. When it`s open, you can see an Arabic inscription above the entrance to the prayer hall, which lauds the local worthy who paid for it, Emir Hamza Beg, as the "shadow of God on earth, glory of the state and of the Faith". Diagonally across the Pazarska loom the old and new Opera Houses that were Stara Zagora`s pride and joy until they caught fire in 1991, just as the autumn season was about to start. The opera company is the oldest in Bulgaria and it was here that the famous singer Boris Christoff first made his name. Alas refurbishment has lagged due to lack of funds, which has also delayed the open¬ing of an archeological reserve behind the town council building; a sizeable restored portion of a Roman theatre is visible from a distance. To get an idea of bourgeois life during the National Revival, check out the Museum of Nineteenth-Century Town life (Tues-Sun l0am-noon & 2-5pm), in a sepia and blue-painted mansion on ul. Dimitar Naumov, north of the City Garden. The Art Gallery (Tues-Sat 9am-noon & 2-6pm) opposite the mosque displays work by local artists, and can be seen on the way to the Geo Milev House-Museum (Tues-Sat 8am-noon), the home of the poet whose verses on the subject of the 1923 Uprising caused his untimely death. It contains several rooms re-creating his abode, a section on other local poets such as Ivan Hadzhihristov, and a nice cafe. The Neolithic dwellings Stara Zagora`s chief attraction, the Neolithic dwellings (Neolitni zhilishta) were unearthed in 1969 during the construction of a hospital. Of the several dwellings excavated - the remains of a settlement destroyed by fire c. 5500 BC - two houses were preserved in the state in which the archeologists found them and covered by a custom-built pavilion, which is now a museum (Tues-Sat 9am-noon & l-5pm). Inside, first impressions are of a moonscape of crumbling walls and pottery, but familiar domestic details become recognizable on closer inspection. Each family occupied a single-roomed dwelling, usually detached - although the two preserved here were built back-to-back, possibly the sign of an extended family. In one corner of the house stood a basic stove, in which bread was baked from flour ground on a nearby millstone. Another corner of the room was a cult area, used to keep idols of the household gods. A gallery in the basement holds the artefacts unearthed by the excavation, covering several millennia - the earli¬est ones include household implements such as sickles and spoons made out of bone - although most objects belong roughly between the sixth and fourth millennia BC. Pottery contemporaneous with the dwellings upstairs shows a high degree of sophistication, with diagonal lines and geometric patterns adorning the bulky vessels used for storing grain. An abundant collection of clay cult figures includes the ample forms of female fertility goddesses alongside various zoomor-phic figures: cats, goats, hedgehogs, and an enigmatic pot in the shape of an animal body with a human head. A delicate child`s bracelet from the fifth mill-enium BC is one of the oldest pieces of gold jewellery ever found. To get there, walk west along ul. General Stoletov for fifteen minutes until you reach the district hospital (okrdzhna bolnitsa); then bear left to find the museum near some white houses around the back. Practicalities Stara Zagora`s train station lies about five blocks south of the centre, near the bottom end of bul. Ruski; the bus station further east on bul. Slavyanski - both stations are just ten minutes` walk from the downtown area. The BALKAN office and a bureau handling train tickets and information can be found on bul. Mitropolit Metodiy Kusev, downhill from the Hotel Vereya. The 3-star Vereya (042/26728) is much plusher than the Slavyanskaya and Zheleznik (042/22158) hotels on bul. Slavyanski, whose chief assets are their restaurant and their proximity to the bus depot, respectively. With a car, you could opt instead for the lakeside Zagorka 042/53015) in Septemvritsi Park, lkm out along the Kazanlak road. Downtown, the Vereya has a terrace-restaurant with a prime view of Stara Zagora`s promenade; the cafes and sladkarnitsi on Mitropolit Kusev are better for eating and drinking. East of Stara Zagora Road and train routes from Stara Zagora towards the coast hug the flanks of the steadily receding Sredna Gora, the expanse of the Thracian plain spreading to the south. Nine kilometres east of town, Bulgaria`s largest chemical fertilizer plant sprawls over 370 acres, a depressing harbinger of the next major settlement along the way, NOVA ZAGORA. A predominantly modern town devoted to agri¬business, its only relevance to tourists is as a transport hub, being the start of a branch line running south to Simeonovgrad on the Sofia-Svilengrad route -useful if you`re heading for Turkey or the Rhodopes. Otherwise, travelling east by road, you`ll rejoin the main Sofia-Black Sea route at Sliven. However, most trains bypass Sliven and pass through Yambol instead, rejoining the coastbound route at Karnobat. Sliven SLIVEN lies at the feet of craggy mountains that once sheltered so many bands of haiduti that Bulgarians called it the "town of the hundred voivods" after the number of their chieftains. The heyday of famous haiduti such as Hadzhi Dimitar and Panayot Hitov coincided with the industrialization of Sliven, where Bulgaria`s first textile factory was established in 1834 - its founder, Dobri Zhelyazkov (known as Fabrikadzhiyata, "the gaffer"), acquired parts and plans of looms by smuggling them back from Russia in bags of wool. The industry grew rapidly, and Sliven was soon likened to a "Bulgarian Manchester". Nowadays, Sliven makes a good stop-off between Sofia and Burgas on the coast - not so much for the town itself as for the Blue Rocks on its outskirts, and the lure of travelling over the mountains to Zheravna and Kotel, two "heritage" villages at the end of a wonderful bus ride. Arrival and accommodation Arriving at the train station at the far, southern end of bul. Hadzhi Dimitar, catch a minibus or trolleybus #1 up bul. Tsar Simeon and alight at the market, near the main square. It`s a fifteen-minute walk into the centre from the bus station, further up Hadzhi Dimitar, which brings you out on bul. Tsar Osvoboditel. With the demise of two hotels in the vicinity, the 2-star Hotel Sliven (044/ 27065) now has a monopoly, though its tourist services desk might arrange private rooms. The only alternatives are outside town, notably the stylish Hotel Alpina (044/73016 or 89215), by the foot of the chairlift to the Blue Rocks; and Aglika campsite (mid-May to Sept; with chalets) near the Turkish-built thermal baths of Slivenski Bani, 9km southwest of town (bus #6 from the market). The Town A sprawl of apartments and red-roofed houses, Sliven converges on a leafy plaza where the high-rise Hotel Sliven and a modernistic theatre-nightclub complex fail to provide the focal point that the planners have evidently been groping for. The square is named pl. Hadzhi Dimitar after Sliven`s most famous son (1840-68), a statue of whom stands to the northeast of the hotel. To learn more about Dimitar, head off past the Deboya or "Depot" - once an arsenal and then a caravanserai - through the c`overed market beside the River Asenovska, crossed by a rickety footbridge. Down a sideroad, the Hadzhi Dimitar House-Museum (Tues-Sun 9am-noon & 2-5pm) honours the man who became Panaiot Hitov`s standard-bearer by the age of twenty, later teaming up with Stefan Karadzha in Romania to form a cheta that made guerrilla raids into Bulgaria. Eventually Turkish troops caught up with them at Mt Buzludzha, where Dimitar fell in battle, and Karadzha was clapped in irons and taken to be hanged in Ruse. The building itself used to be an inn, run by Dimitar`s father; today you can see everything set up as it was when he lived here. Frugal bedding on the floor denotes the guests` sleeping quarters: the family lived in the more comfortable rooms to the rear, dining on a balcony carpeted with rush mats. Along bulevard Tsar Osvoboditel and ulitsa Rakovski Sliven`s other sights can be found along two streets running eastwards from the main square. Bulevard Tsar Osvoboditel is an attractive pedestrian zone of shops and cafes, ending in a flourish of banks and fountains. Notice the thou¬sand-year-old oak tree that survived the burning of medieval Sliven by the Turks. Among the best of the collection at the History Museum at no. 18 (Tues-Sun 9am-noon & 2-5pm) are funerary relics from Kaloyanovo - where a Thracian chieftain was buried with his favourite horse and Greek pottery - and a collection of superbly intricate shishane rifles, showing the artistry of nineteenth-century local gunsmiths. There`s an Exhibition of Religious Art (Tues-Sun l0am-noon & 2-5pm) further on, across the road. Ulitsa G.S. Rakovski is a lot longer; hop on a bus to avoid the one-kilometre walk to the confluence of the Selishtna and Novoselka rivers, from which the town`s name (literally "confluence") derives. En route, you`ll skirt Sliven`s nine¬teenth-century residential suburbs, characterized by narrow alleys and low white¬washed houses with pantiled roofs, behind high garden walls. |
Property in Bulgaria - Info on Bulgaria - The Regions - Sredna Gora, Valley of the Roses
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