The fortress was raised in IV Century as a watch fortification, controlling the road in the River Valley of Malki Lom River.
For now archaeologist revealed the south wall and two inner rooms of the fortress.
The finds- coins and pottery- give a reason to claim the fortress had survived after the big Huns and Goths invasions in the V century, but as an already fortified settlement of agriculture population.
Some objects, especially ceramic pottery and arrow gads shows life here proceeded through the period of Second Bulgarian kingdom.

source: news.bg

It initially sprung as a Thracian settlement that turned into a traveler’s center located on a major Roman road. During the Middle Ages, the Lovech fortress was used as a strategic fortification in northern Bulgaria. A three-month siege ended in a peace treaty between the Bulgarian rulers Asen and Petur and the Byzantine ruler. This treaty marks the establishment of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom.

During the revival period, Lovech acted as a craftsmen meeting point. Lovech merchants traveled throughout the empire and the town prospered. It was often called Altun (golden) Lovech. Many revival activists and revolutionaries acted in Lovech. Some of them are Vassil Levski, Angel Kunchev, P.R. Slaveikov.

Today, Lovech is a picturesque town that has many landmarks to show to visitors. The Lovech fortress is the most important historic remain. The remains can be seen on the right river shore, on the hill of Hissarya.

Varosha residential district is another well-known attraction. The district has been named architecture and historic preserve. It features more than 160 renovated houses that were constructed in the 70s of the 19th century. Lovech traditional houses have their distinct architectural style. The front part of the house faces the yard, while the back side is turned towards the street. The owners of most of these renovated houses live there.

The covered bridge of Lovech also deserves its fame. The bridge is one of the four such constructions in Europe. Accidents led to the destruction of the bridge several times. Initially it was wooden but a river overflow damaged it. Kolio Ficheto constructed the second bridge. The unique construction is 84 m long. The covered part hosts more than 20 shops.

A conflagration in the 20s of the 20th century destroyed the bridge for the second time. The third reconstruction occurred in the 80s. Some of the old bridge foundations were used. Its initial looks were preserved but the new bridge turned out to be 20 meters longer than the work of Kolio Ficheto.

Stratesh, the town’s park, is among the most beautiful Loech features. Locals set up the park on their own. Many alleys allow peaceful walks, the park has a small lake and the second biggest zoo in Bulgaria.

A museum and a monument have been dedicated to the revolutionary Vassil Levski. The monument in Lovech is probably one of the tallest statues of Levski in the country.

Bash Bounar alley will take you for a walk on the left shore of the river. The nature and calmness attract lovers of secluded and relaxing activities.

During May, Lovech turns into a lilac city because of the many flowering bushes. The lilac music days take place at that time.

It encompasses an area of 667 sq. km and constitutes 0.06% of the Republic of Bulgaria’s territory. It borders the Republic of Turkey to south (55 km of common boundary), the Elhovo municipality to the west, the municipalities of Tounja, Yambol and Stranja to the north and the Bourgas district (the Sredets municipality) to the east.

History
There already was human presence on the present territory of the Bolyarovo municipality in early antiquity. Traces of Thracian settlements have been discovered on the land of the villages Krainovo, Iglika, Popovo, Dennitsa and Kamen Vrah. There are traces of ancient copper-ore works in the Trofalashkite Doupki area. An important road artery used to lead from Sliven and Yambol through the village of Popovo, west of Bolyarovo, Lalkovo and Golyam Dervent, to Odrin.

The ottoman stronghold Pashakyoiskoto Kale, which was probably built earlier by the Bulgarian Khan Omourtag, and the late-antiquity fortress Potamoukastel by the village of Voden outline another important road. There are traces of a medieval settlement in the Eki Joumaya area one kilometre northwestwards of the village of Dennitsa. Fragments of structural clay products and pottery, which are typical of both the Second Bulgarian kingdom and the first centuries of the Ottoman rule, can be found on the surface of the terrain. The renowned Trite Kaleta (the Three Strongholds) by the village of Voden had an important strategic role in medieval Bulgaria.

The village of Bolyarovo was founded in the national revival period as the landed estate of an Ottoman pasha (administrator and military leader). During the same period the village of Voden (then Derekyoy) took an active part in the church struggles of the Bulgarian people. It was the first to join the Bulgarian Exarchate, while the neighbouring Sharkovo (then Golyam Boyalak), Malko Sharkovo (then Malak Boyalak) and Gorska Polyana (then Ailajik) remained under the Greek Patriarchate.

Although it was away from the country’s large substantial centres, the Bolyarovo region did take part in the manifestations of the Bulgarian movement for national liberation. The local population has preserved to our day the memories of the Pehlivanov brothers from the village of Bolyarovo (then Pashakyoy) – rebels, killed by the Turks, of the detachment of Stoyan Stefanov from Voden (then Derekyoy), of the great patriot and rebel Old Nikola Ouzunov from the village of Stefan Karajovo (then Ichme), of the organizer of the West-Stranja Revolutionary Committee and struggler for church and national independence Kourti Drazhev, who was exiled to the Diarbekir fortress by the Turks. The village of Popovo (then Papaskyoy) is the birthplace of the national hero Inje Voivoda. An object of local and national pride is Stefan Karaja, who was born in the village of Stefan Karajovo (then Ichme).

The village was renamed from Pashakyoy to Bolyarovo in 1934. It acquired the statute of a town-type village in 1963 and was proclaimed a town in 1974. It was on the territory first of the Yambol district, then ofthe Bourgas district, and since the latest administrative division of the country in 1999 has been in the Yambol district.

There were also some Vlachs who lived in Vidin and to the north of it. The old Romanian name of the town is Diiu.

History
Vidin emerged at the place of an old Celtic settlement known as Dunonia, where a Roman fortified town called Bononia was later constructed. The town grew into one of the important centres of the province of Upper Moesia, encompassing the territory of modern northwestern Bulgaria and eastern Serbia. Roman rule lasted until 46 AD.

When Slavs settled in the area, they called the town Badin or Bdin, where the modern name comes from.

Vidin’s main landmark, the Baba Vida fortress, was built in the period from the 10th to the 14th century. In the Middle Ages Vidin used to be an important Bulgarian city, a bishop seat and capital of a large province. Between 971 and 976 the town was the center of Samuil’s possessions while his brothers ruled to the south. In 1003 Vidin was seized by Basil II after a eight month siege because of the betrayal of the local bishop. Its importance once again rose during the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185-1396) and its despots were influential figures in the Empire and were on several occasions chosen for Emperors. From the mid 13th century it was ruled by the Shishman family.

In 1356, Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander isolated Vidin from the Bulgarian monarchy and appointed his son Ivan Stratsimir (1356-1396) as absolute ruler of Vidin’s new city-state. In 1365, the Despotate of Vidin was occupied by Magyar crusaders. Under Hungarian rule, the city became known as Bodony, but the occupation was short-lived. In 1369, a united Slavic Bulgarian empire drove out the Hungarian military, but in 1393 the whole of Bulgaria, along with the rest of the surrounding region, fell to the Ottoman Empire. This brought an end to Bulgaria’s medieval state empire. Vidin was now the only region controlled by the indigenous Bulgarian population and not the invading Ottoman Turks.

The Ottomans went on to conquer the despotates of Dobrudzha, Prilep and Velbazhd as well. Vidin’s independence did not last long. In 1396, Stratsimir contributed soldiers to assist the Slavic nations’ bid to overturn the Ottoman Empire. Following defeat at the hands of the Ottomans outside the city of Nicopolis, Vidin finally fell under the sphere of the Ottomans, led by Bayezid I, as a punishment for their role in the hostilities.

In the late years of Ottoman rule, Vidin was the centre of Turkish rebel Osman Pazvanto?lu’s breakaway state.

During the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885), the town was besieged by a Serbian army. Although vastly outnumbered, the Bulgarians defeated the enemy who suffered a humiliating defeat.

Landmarks
Vidin boasts two well-preserved medieval fortresses, Baba Vida and Kaleto, as well as many old Orthodox churches such as St Pantaleimon, St Petka (both 17th century), and St Greatmartyr Demetrius (19th century), a Jewish synagogue (1894), a mosque and a library of Osman Pazvanto?lu, the late 18th century Turkish ruler of northwestern Bulgaria, the cruciform barracks of 1798, and a number of old Renaissance buildings.

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According to historians, Ovech was part of a Byzantine defense system, hindering the invasion of northern tribes.

When it came under Bulgarian control, the fortress played key role in many battles during the First Bulgarian Kingdom.

Ovech is situated on a high, rocky hill. A narrow strip of land connects the stronghold with another hill, Tabiite. Legends tell how wheat and food were stored in the nearby caves to supply locals in case of a siege.

Byzantines, Ottomans and knights captured the fortress many times. King Ivan Alexander ordered the confinement of three prisoners in the fortress in 1366. The knights Amadeus of Savoy and the marshal of burgundy were two of them. They were captured by the Ovech army during the battle for Varna.

Small portion of the fortress walls have remained intact till present day. The remains are sufficient to draw a picture and imagine the castle’s dimensions. An 80 m deep well that supplied the fortress with water can be seen as well.

Geography
Karnobat municipality is situated in the south-eastern part of the Bulgaria and it falls within the administrative boundaries of Burgas region. Rishki Passage links the municipality to north Bulgaria. The Karnobat-Aitos range of the Balkan mountain is located in the northern part of the municipality. Hisar hills raise to the south of the town of Karnobat. The territory of Karnobat municipality is 806 km?, 87.37% of which is agricultural land, 9.81% forest land and 2.82% residential areas.

History
The Karnobat region, located in front of the south approaches of the Rishki and Varbishki passes, features an ancient history, dating back to the Neolithic era. Villages and tumuli reveal traces of life from the Neolithic and the Iron Age, rich settlement life during the antiquity and Middle Ages.The first information for Karnobat was written in 1153 and included in The Geography by Muhammad al-Idrisi- Arabic traveller and scientist. The historical sources show that since the 19th century up to present days the town has always been an administrative, economic and commercial centre with a traditional yearly fair.

The town of Karnobat was mentioned under different names in the documents from the Turkish registers and travel notes: Karinovassa. Karinabad, Karnovo…

After the foundation of the Bulgarian state in 681, because of its exceptional role, the lands of the Karnobat region were field of many battles between Bulgaria and Byzantium. Markeli fortress, a south Episcopal and military center, located 7.5 km west of Karnobat, has been the most significant place of interest since the times of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. During the Ottoman rules, the town was an important administrative and trade center included in the Silistra district. The fact that the Bulgarian priest Stoiko Vladislavov (known as Sofronii Vrachanski, one of the prominent men of the Bulgarian national revival) performed the service in Karnobat parish is indicative of the revival processes that took place in the region from 1791 to 1792.

During the Renaissance Karnobat became the rallying point for cultural and educational development of the region. St. Yoan Theologian Church was built in 1838. Razvitie Reading Club (now St. Kiril i Metodii Reading Club) one of the first reading clubs in South-Eastern Bulgaria was established in 1862 and a non-clerical school was opened in 1864.

The town had a significant contribution to the religious struggles during the Renaissance-in the 19th century the active and public-spirited citizens of Karnobat expelled the bishop of Anhialo and in this way they completely eliminated the Greek influence.

During the Russian-Turkish War (1877-1878) the region became a victim of outrageous bashi-bazouks and Circassians.

The Liberation of Karnobat on 24 January 1878 gave grounds for huge social and economic reforms. The town strengthened its positions as a cultural and educational center. About 22 periodicals reflect its new appearance.

Population
According to the data of the carried out census of the population on 04.12.1992 (4 December 1992 or April 4, 1992) the constant population in Karnobat municipality has been 32 868 and in the end of 1999 it has been 31,444. From the period since 1965 up to now the population has constantly decreased. Basically this is due to the migrations and the worsen age structure in some of the villages in the municipality-Devetnitsi, Kozare, Dobrinovo, San Stefano. In the process of the mechanical movement major part of the migrating population has been oriented to the municipal centre and a small part of the municipality.

Residential areas
Karnobat municipality includes in its administrative territory totally 30 residential places – 1 town and 29 villages, with population of 31,444 persons in 1999, 21,557 of which live in the municipal centre the town of Karnobat. Among the villages only Ekzarh Antimovo is with a population over 1000 people. With a population of 500 to 1000 people are the villages of Iskra, Krumovo, Gradishte, Klikach and Nevestino. The rest villages are with a population under 500 persons. With population under 100 people is only the village of Kozare. The residential areas are 22.74 km?, which represents 2.8% of the municipal territory (806 km?). Housing areas of 9.445 km? cover 41.5% of the fund. The lands in the residential areas under cultivation and used for private industry are 8.377 km? (36.8%).

The average population density of is 1400 people per square kilometer, or average 710 m? of residential territory per a resident. Only two of the villages are with indexes which are near to the average for the municipality. The typical density of residence is up to 10 people/ha gross density of residence.

Museums
The museum house “Dimitar Polyanov” is the only preserved and reconstructed renaissance house, built in the 70s of ХІХ century. The museum exhibition has been established on 23.11.1973 and possesses a fund, which contains belongings, documents, works and letters of the writer D. Polyanov, born in the town of Karnobat, as well as property of his family, necessities of life. In the museum and in the nearby located and recently constructed similar house exhibition of the ethnographic way of living in the region and of the famous authors from the town is in a process of establishment.

The historical museum in the town has been established in 1921 as an archeological collection. Its creator is the explorer with many years of service, a principal of the local high school Atanas Ignatiev Karaivanov. Since 1953 it has become a state museum with three departments – “Archeology”, “Ethnography” and “New History”. In 1992 “Nature” department has been established as well. It is located in a separate building in the southern park in the town, next to the zoo.

Culture
Cultural club “Dimitar Polyanov” has a city library, a picture gallery named after the world famous Bulgarian painter Bencho Obreshkov, born in Karnobat. The cultural club hall is with 310 seats and the movie hall beside it – with 460 places. To the cultural club, there is an amateur mixed choir with about 50 singers, which in 1992 celebrated 90 years since its establishment. In 1993 a cultural club ensemble for folk songs and dances has been established as well. Recently the variety and satiric ensemble to the cultural club celebrated 75 years of its establishment. Within the days of the traditional annual May festivals of culture the municipal folk festival is held as well.

Investments and development of the real estate market
European companies actually struck Bulgaria long before its joining to EU. Now foreign investors yet more tangibly report the so important strategic position of Bulgaria and seriously consider its potential as an up-and-coming market. The business is booming and foreign investments are flooding in.
2.845 milliard Euro amount the direct investments in Bulgaria for the first nine months of 2006, show some preliminary researches. 3.9 milliard Euro were the property investments in Central and Eastern Europe for the first six months of 2006 according to expert real estate consulting companies. Bulgaria and Romania get 9,4 % of that sum (in comparison with 7 % for Russia). The main money stream (around 71 % from the capital invested in real estates) comes from countries like Great Britain, Germany, and Austria. All the energies had been thrown into making the Bulgarian market a competitive part of the global financial market and as a result leading investment companies find considerable potential in the property market for the next 5 to 10 years to come. What contributes so essentially for heightening the credit in Bulgaria is its political stability and constantly improving business environment.
In the previous few years Sofia has become a very attractive place for investors and a significant share of the foreign finances turning to Bulgaria are directed to the capital. Today Sofia is a cosmopolitan city and the country` s economic center. In Sofia are located the administrations of the President, the Bulgarian Government, the Bulgarian Parliament. Here are concentrated the headquarters of all public administrative authorities, the Supreme courts, Bulgarian and international financial and bank institutions and also the head offices of a great number of foreign and local companies and organizations.
Solid revenues expected from the European funds will be used for the modernization of the transport sector and the infrastructure. Some of the projects have already been started, among them is the ring-road of Sofia which is being expanded and eventually will hasten the overloaded car traffic in the city. The Metropolitan is also being developed; in particular the section passing through the city center which is expected to be completed by November 2007. The general scheme of the metropolitan railway lines consists of three diameters with general length 52 km and 46 metro stations. The rough estimations show that a general funds for over 300 million USD will be built on the object.
Though Sofia dropped out of the competition for a host city of the 2014 Olympic Games, the construction of new winter sports facilities and the retrofit of the existing ones are taken up the run. The next Winter Olympics nomination of Sofia will include the ‘Super Borovets’ project, a grand undertaking for enlargement of the ski facilities in Borovets ski resort, situated only 40 minutes by car Southeast from the capital.
Another infrastructural object of great importance is the Sofia Airport, where a new terminal was open in December 2006. The capacity of the terminal will be 2 600 000 people per annum and 26 000 tons of cargo goods and it could provide services even for the biggest aircrafts – Boeing 747, Boeing 767, Boeing 777 and Airbus 350. The project with overall cost of 110 million Euro will decrease the charges for customers’ services and will probably attract more investors in the aviation sector.
Golf came to Bulgaria six years ago. The first long flight of the small golf ball in Bulgaria was on the 10th of June 2000, when Ihtiman golf course was opened. Ihtiman is located 48 km South from Sofia and 90 km West from Plovdiv. The course has 18 holes and has been certified by the American Golf Association. Its rating is 71.3 and the slope index is 131. The easy reach to the capital makes it one of the Sofia’s attractions. The success of this investment led to the creation of other golf courses, this time mainly along the Black Sea coast.

Why is Sofia your place for investments?
• The capital has the largest potential of most qualified human resources and low level of unemployment of just 3 %.
• The geographic location of Sofia also favors high investment returns.
• The rental market is all year round and guarantees reasonable annual return.
• Sofia is the only European capital which has ski runs only 20 minutes away from the city center.
• The interest of second-home seekers and buy-to-let investors is constantly increasing.
• The prices of immovable property in Sofia are now comparable to those in the famous Bulgarian ski resorts, being within the range 1000 – 1200 Euro per square meter for new apartments in the city and in the suburbs, while the prices for top location residential properties in highly preferred areas could reach up to 3300 Euro / m2.
• Sofia`s economy is booming and the city seems to be one of the fastest developing property markets in Europe.

The EU membership
The regional significance of Bulgaria and Sofia in particular increased even before the membership of Bulgaria in the EU became a fact. An inflow of diplomatic staff and international companies to Sofia has recently been observed. Companies such as Coca Cola, Shell, Nokia, Nestle, Microsoft, Google, Hewlett Packard, Deutsche Bank, Ernst & Young and many others have lately confidently opened offices in Sofia. The Bulgarian capital is following the same path as of other Eastern European capitals such as Warsaw and Budapest. The property market in countries like Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary was quite the same before they joined EU and experts believe that Bulgaria will share the same fate.

Speaking with figures
The average price for a sq. m. in Sofia is 1100-1200 Euro, but of course, the price range is much wider (from 600 Euro up to more than 2000 Euro). Expert analysis indicates that there will be about 40 % increase of prices within 6 to 12 months after Bulgaria` s joining to the EU. The economic importance of the capital’s location has become even greater for the last five years thanks to the significant privatization of businesses and accordingly the increased number of foreign investments. Currently, many real estate investing companies are targeting properties in Bulgaria and mainly apartments and plots of land within a short radius from the capital Sofia.
The excellent potential of investing in a city apartment is obvious to private individuals as much as it is to large companies. Only a quick glance at some statistics would be enough to notice that. The monthly rentals for apartments have doubled for only 3-4 years time and that it was before Bulgaria joined the EU. It is practically possible to make money from real estates with no money down, having in mind that you can easily rent out an apartment for 200-300 Euro a month (rentals vary from 150-1500 Euro per month). That could be quite enough to settle your mortgage payments.
A city apartment on the other hand has its own special features in comparison to resort apartments. While resort apartments are seasonal, a city apartment could be rented out all year round and although the daily rental income would be much lower it would have the same return in the end of the year. This grants a minimum investment risk and 7-9 % annual return. On the other hand, buying a property not only in Sofia but anywhere in Bulgaria is a good investment itself with the constant increase of real estate prices on the Bulgarian property market.

The construction of new residential buildings is continuously on the increase. Prices are in all stable, yet more intensely growing in the upper class of residential properties and in the most prestigious areas of Sofia. The top location off-plan double-room apartments register the biggest price growth – nearly 30 % for 2006. In the next few years the residential properties market will become more differentiated as it comes to prices and districts. Analyses predict that another determinant moment for the development of the property market will be the acceptance of the Euro in 2010.
Main part of all the property deals falls to trading centers and offices. The first buildings with compound purpose came into the market – offices and residential units over the commercial ground floor. There is a great competition between the investors for the acquisition of quality investment properties. This leads to persuasive and continuous rise in the sale prices, particularly for office areas in the top city locations, while the rents stay stable. Sofia is still the basic property market – for residential properties as well as for office areas – and this will not change soon, keeping in mind the fact that most of the companies prefer to open their head offices in the capital as this is the city bearing the biggest business potential.
There is an increasing number of new companies which discovered the possibilities of the dynamic property market in Sofia and a lot of companies which are on the market for some time now and are currently expanding. One of the reasons for such interest is the improving opportunities for companies to occupy quality estates at a reasonable price. For many companies, even not leaders in their branch, Bulgaria is a good solution if they seek lowering their business expenses. Bringing together the favorable tax standards and the level of production costs which is a few times lower than in many European countries, it is a fact that the business property market shows a positive economic trend. Nevertheless, this field of business property market is not yet completely ready to meet the requirements of big foreign investors. The request for high class offices determined the start of a couple vast projects near the Sofia Airport and two of the main boulevards Tsarigradsko Shose and Bulgaria. The property market for logistic and industrial estates is still not so well exploited but is expected to meet an upward trend.

History
According to the archeologists, the area of Haskovo was originally settled about seven thousand years ago. In and around Haskovo, evidence has been preserved that confirms its long history during the prehistoric, Thracian, Roman, late ancient and medieval periods.

During the first Bulgarian kingdom in the 9th century, a fortness was built in Haskovo that soon was transformed into a town. This town was located at the center of a sizeable region between the Klokotnitza, Harmanlijska, and Maritza rivers.

In 1395 the Eski camii (the Old mosque) was built as the first one on the Balkan peninsula. It is interesting that its minaret is slightly inclined.

In 1782, the town was known as Marsa. Many speculate that the current name came from the Arabic word “has” (possession)and the Turkish word “koy” (village). Several historians have ascertained that the Turkish word “has” has roots to the meaning “clean”. Strengthening this argument further, the town was literally called “Clean Town” during the Renaissance period.

Most Bulgarians began to settle in Haskovo at the beginning of the nineteenth century. At this time, the settlement was a trading center for Odrin, Enos, and Istanbul. Slowly, the area acquired a strong reputation for producing cotton materials, silk fabrics, and carpets.

After the liberation in 1878 Haskovo became a centre of high-quality tobacco region (Bulgaria’s largest cigarette manufacturing facilities are based in the town). Nowadays there are some enterprises for food, machinery and fabric.

Culture
Center of HaskovoThe cultural life in the town is presented by the newly renovated drama theatre “Ivan Dimov”, the historical museum and an art gallery. The annual folk festival “Kitna Trakia pee i tancuva” (Colourful Thrace sings and dances) takes place in the near park Kenana. A 32-meter-high statue of Mary, the mother of Jesus and the Infant Jesus was erected on the Hill of Youth near Haskovo in 2003. The monument was inaugurated on September 8 on the occasion of the Nativity of Holy Virgin Mary, when the Day of the town of Haskovo is celebrated. It entered the Guinness Book of Records as the highest in the world monument to Our Lady.

The town centre has recently been the subject of many investments, such that one would be hard pressed to tell the difference to Western Europe, in terms of street cafes, restaurants, shops, etc.