The valley of Kostenets is located on the eastern side of the Rila Mountains, not far from the ski resort of Borovets. In contrast to the valley of Malovitsa on the western side of the resort, this valley is not frequently visited. The capital of [...]

In 986, one of the most influential battles in world history took place—the Battle of Trajan’s Gates—in a mountain pass 60 km from Sofia on the road to Plovdiv. The battle was between the forces of the Bulgarian Tsar Samuel and the forces of the [...]

Iskar River is one of the longest rivers in Bulgaria. The river starts in the area of Musala Mountain in the Rila Mountains, and unlike most other rivers in Bulgaria, it flows north—there is no other river in the country that behaves so unusually. Along [...]

It is the third most important and largest monastery in Bulgaria, and the spiritual center of the regions north of the Balkan Mountains. It replaced, to some extent, the religious centers of Arbanasi and Veliko Tarnovo—which are not far away—and rose in prominence after these [...]

The largest city in the eastern part of the Rose Valley is Karlovo, with a population of 30,000. Like Kalofer, Karlovo was also established during the Ottoman period and was rebuilt in the 19th century. But unlike nearby Kalofer, its ancient center has been preserved [...]

Kalofer is a town of 3,500 people located near the highest part of the Balkan Mountain Range and Park, in the middle of the Rose Valley. Today it is a sleepy town, but at the end of the 19th century it had a population similar [...]

Not far from Veliko Tarnovo, at the beginning of the road leading to the Šhipka Pass—one of the most important mountain passes in the Balkans—is the Dryanovo Monastery. This beautiful monastery lies on the banks of a river, in one of the most stunning natural [...]

Veliko Tarnovo is an ancient city located on a naturally fortified hill in one of the bends of the Yantra River, north of the Balkan Mountains. It rose to prominence in the Middle Ages when it served as the capital of Bulgaria. From here came [...]

The Iskar River is the largest river that joins the Danube in Bulgaria. It is also the only river that crosses the Balkan Mountains; therefore, along it passed the historical road from the areas north of the empire (Romania and beyond) to the ports of [...]

The City of Nikopol is an hour's drive east of Oescus, and is one of the oldest and most important cities along the River. Human settlement in it began already in prehistoric times. In the Roman period, a village existed here and a dedicatory inscription [...]