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Tourist Attractions
Around the Kazanlak Region
Koprinka Lake
Koprinka lake is a massive reservoir
close to Kazanlak. During the spring and summer, you can see swans,
storks, cormorants and wild ducks along the lake shore. There are a
number of trails around the lake and in the summer you can go fishing,
wind-surfing, water-skiing, hire pedal boats and jet skis or just relax
on one of the beaches.
Thracian Tombs
(The Valley of the Thracian Kings)
The area around Kazanlak has become
famous in recent years for the huge number of well preserved Thracian
tombs that litter the landscape. These look like giant mole hills, but
actually house small stone structures, used to bury and commemorate the
dead in ancient times. Whilst the presence of the tombs and the
Thracian settlements had been known about for many years, it was not
until 1992 that serious excavations began on the tombs. Two
temples were discovered, one also being the burial chamber of the great
Thracian King Seuthes III, identified by a head of a statue buried at
the entrance.
A number of the tombs are open to the public, including the Tomb of Seuthes III and also a
replica of the Kazanlak tomb, in the park at the top of Kazanlak. The
entrance cost is 3 levs per person and guide books are available in
English.

An intact tomb was found near Shipka
which was the burial chamber of a mid 4th century BC ruler and many
gold and silver artifacts were discovered (now in Kazanlak museum).
Another tomb nearby was found to contain the bones of a horse,
sacrificed in all its elaborate harnesses and dressings. Another intact
tomb was discovered in 1993 near Shipka and this was the largest to
date, it comprised 6 chambers and was 100sqm. The main burial chamber
was made from a single enormous granite block weighing more than 60
tonnes and in the entrance chamber to the tomb, a horse had been
sacrificed and buried along with its distinguished owner. Many more
tombs were discovered throughout 1995 and 1996. Many contained gold and
silver ornaments (at least those that had not been plundered earlier)
and the walls were decorated with rich colours and murials depicting
the life of the Thracian rulers. Two temples were discovered, one also
being the burial chamber of the great Thracian King Seuthes III,
identified by a head of a statue buried at the entrance and several
items bear the description 'to Seuthes'.
A number of the tombs are open to the
public and accessible by either tarmac or dirt track roads, including
the Tomb of Seuthes III.

The Festival of
the Roses
Every year, on the first weekend in
June, there is a large world renowned street parade in Kazanlak, called
the Festival of the Roses. Local schools and clubs take part in the
festival, which celebrates the rose oil production the area is famed
for and the end of the rose petal picking season. There is folk music
and dancing and a festival King and Queen.

Shipka Pass and
Monument
The Shipka pass is famous for being the
stand point of the Bulgarian and Russian troops during the 1878
Liberation War from the Turks. An important battle took place with the
6000 Bulgarians and Russians fighting from the top of the mountain to
stop the 27,000 Turkish army conquering the north of Bulgaria, as well
as the south. On the third day of the battle, the Bulgarians and
Russians ran out of ammunition and had to resort to throwing rocks,
tree trunks and eventually dead bodies down the hill at the attacking
army. But they managed to hold the pass and when Russian reinforcements
arrived, the Bulgarians and Russians moved down the mountain and
defeated the rest of the Turkish army. A monument is built right at the
top of the winding pass, which houses a military museum. You can drive
so far up but then must climb hundreds of steps to reach the top. On a
clear day the views from the top across the valley below are amazing
and you can see for many miles.

Russian Church
To commemorate the battle at Shipka and
the Russian and Bulgarian dead, a magnificent, gold roofed church was
built at the base of the pass in Shipka town. The inside of the church
is decorated with wonderful paintings and in the vault under the
church, there are photographs and descriptions explaining how the
church was built.

Buzludzha
From just outside Kazanlak, the road
runs around 12km up to the top of Mount Buzludzha. On the top you can
see the strange, spaceship shaped monument built to commemorate the
death of Hadzhi Dimitar and other rebel fighters, who died there
fighting the Turks and also the foundation of the Bulgarian Socialist
Party in 1891, following a secret meeting there. The monument is now
just a ruin.

However the main attraction of
Buzludzha is now the small ski area there. There are two decent length
poma drag lifts with runs down of about 500m and a couple of smaller
beginner runs. There is one 2 star renovated hotel and then an older
hotel and a small basic hostel. Great place to go for a day's skiing
and stay in the mountains. Ski hire (reasonable up to date equipment)
is 10 levs a day and a lift pass is 12 levs a day. The height of the
skiing is only around 1350 metres but usually has snow for at least a
couple of months a year.
 
Pavel Banya
Pavel Banya is a mineral spa resort and
tourist destination, famed for its spring waters which are said to have
great healing powers for bone diseases. Recently the area has under
gone regeneration with new hotels and guest houses being built. There
is a large park and an old Sanatorium still in use for medical
referrals as well as the original old spa complex with various mineral
pools and treatments. New spa centres are under construction and
planned for the area.

Rose Distillery

In the village of
Tarnicheni, about a 50 minute drive from Stara Zagora and 20 minutes
from Kazanlak, there is a working rose distillery (and lavender after
rose season) which you can visit with prior arrangement. It has been
renovated and restored into a beautiful working museum. You can see the
old way they used to distil the rose oil (picture on far left above),
the still working but older rose distillery (next picture in) and the
new more efficient distillery where hundreds of bags of rose petals are
brought in and put into the distillation vats. You can purchase rose
oil directly from the distillery here. Tours can be organised by prior
arrangement and can include a traditional Bulgarian meal and a tour of
a wood carver's work shop. Cost around 50 levs per person.
The Balkans
The Central Balkan National Park has 9
reserves that cover around a third of the National Park and are a haven
for wildlife and wild flowers. The Park is one of the few remaining
locations in Europe that provides sanctuary to rare and endangered
animals, such as the wolf, marten, otter, wild cat, Geoffrey’s
bat, barbastelle, Schreiber’s bat, common dormouse, Balkan
chamois, imperial eagle, corncrake, and ring ouzel. The
Park is the world’s most significant habitat of the semi-collared
flycatcher, white-backed woodpecker, Bechstein’s bat, souslik,
and mountain molerat. The Central Balkan National Park is home to
59 species of mammals (66% of all mammalian species in Bulgaria); 14
species of reptiles (40% of Bulgarian reptilian species); 123 species
of nesting birds (45% of Bulgaria’s ornithological fauna); and 8
amphibian species (half of all Bulgarian amphibian species).
Twenty-ones of the vertebrate species within the Park are endangered
globally; 80 vertebrate species have been placed under special
protection in the Park. [Information from the
VisitCentralBalkan Site]
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