THE SIGHTS OF KARLOVO

“Vassil Levski” National Museum is located in the western part of Karlovo. Open as a museum in 1937, the house in which the Apostle of Bulgarian Freedom was born is one of the most visited memorial museums in the country, a place for storing valuable possessions, documents and art exhibits connected with the life and deeds of the Apostle.
The monument of the national hero, built in 1907, dominates in the old part of the town, in Vassil Levski square.

 

Historical museum - Karlovo is located in the old part of the town, near the Vassil Levski monument. The building which hosts the museum was a five-grade boys school built in 1871 – one of the most representative buildings from the time of the Bulgarian Revival. The exhibition of the museum shows the archaeological heritage of the Karlovo valley, the variety of crafts that existed in Karlovo and the region, the traditional culture, the development of the education, and the participation of the town population in the liberation struggle.

 

The “St. Nikolai” church / 1847 /, in whose yard the tomb of the mother of the Apostle of freedom Vassil Levski – Gina Kuncheva is, and the “St. Virgin” church, restored in1851, are well known. Vassil Levski served as a deacon in the “St. Virgin” church from 1859 to 1862. The tombs of the prominent Karlovo donors Todor and Ana Pulevi, and Dimitar and Hristo Lazarovi are in the yard of the church. Both churches boast impressive size with a plan of pseudo-basilicas with a nave and two aisles. The master-builders were from Bratsigovo and Karlovo, and the icons were painted by famous artists from Samokov and Bansko.

 

 

In the old part of the town, tourists can take a tour of the historical place – “The Old Town”. Despite modern architecture, it has preserved the spirit of the old houses of the Bulgarian National Revival, the silent whisper of the fountains, the memory of the far-off days. About a hundred houses have been preserved in this part – monuments of culture, two-storey, beautifully plastered, with picturesque wood-carved ceilings and yards with decorative portals, shady vines, box shrub and flower gardens.
Tourists can also see the Mazakova house – today ethnographical exposition to the Historical Museum, the house of Daskal Botyo, in which Hristo Botev lived for several years. There is a small exposition dedicated to the deeds of Botyo Petkov – the prominent teacher and literary man, in the house. The Hadji Dimitrov house / 1847 /, the Zoeva house, the Hadji Angelov house with the famous Shushelov fountain, the house of Rayno Popovich, the house of the sculptor Ivan Lazarov, the house of the donor Anka Kuzmanova, called “The white yard”, Buhalov inn and others are well preserved.

A bust of Doctor Ivan Bogogrov has been erected in Vassil Levski Street.
A bust of Hristo Prodanov has been erected in the park in the northern part of the town, in which tourists can also see “The Factory for woolen fabrics” built in 1891 by The Evlogi and Hristo Georgiervi Brothers, still functioning today.
Above the factory, at the foot of the Stara Planina mountains are located the well-known “Suchurum” waterfall and the water power station “Vassil Levski” Karlovo, built in 1926.
For extreme sports lovers there is a picturesque eco-path called “Adrenaline” starting off the waterfall.
The “Stara Reka” reserve, which is part of the “Central Balkan” National Park, and “The Cross” site with “St. Ivan Rilski” chapel are located above the waterfall.