The valley of Tetevenis enchanted, unbelievably beautiful"Felix Kanits
LOCATION
The town of Teteven (12 762 inhabitants, 410m above sea level) is situated in the region of
Stara planina. It is 118km from
Sofia, 74 km from
Lovech and 60km from
Troyan.
HISTORY
Monuments discovered accidentally prove that this area has been populated since most ancient times. The proof about it are the finds in the caves Morovitsa, Baiovitsa,Draganchovitsa. The numerous funeral mounds date back to the Thracian's time. The numismatic finds prove that here used to be a Roman settlement as well. Traces from Roman roads, bridges and watch-towers can be found.
The oldest information about the settlements in writing is from Turkish register of 1421. The name mentioned there was Tetevian. In the time period of the Ottoman Rule, the town developed as a prospering handicraft settlement. It was called "Golden Teteven".But in 1801 it was completely devastated. Although the settlement rehabilitated with the elapse of years, it never reached its previous heyday and welfare.
After the Liberation Teteven developed as a centre of tourism.
LANDMARKS
Museum of History – 3, Sava Mladenov Square, tel. 0678 2005, working time 9-12 , 14-17
St.Ilia monastery. An artistically elaborated cross, a gift from tzar Ivan Shishman was preserved there (at the moment in the London Museum).
All Saints church. It is 31m long, 14m wide with thickness of the walls of 1.5m.
The houses-museums are remarkable:
Bobevs,
Hadji Ivans and
Iorgos houses.
Teteven is famous for its plum brandy. Each year at the beginning of the month of May the biggest mountain cycling race on the Balkan Peninsula is held here.
TRANSPORT
Teteven has regular bus connection with
Sofia,
Vratsa ,
Pleven,
Lovech and
Veliko Tarnovo, as well as with almost all the settlements within the region.
Bus station – 54, the Third of March Str, tel. 0678 2557.
SURROUNDING AREAS
The village of
Ribaritsa (at 12km to the east) is one of the longest villages in Bulgaria and it is a famous mountainous resort. There are a lot of holiday houses, country-houses, private hotels and public catering establishments. It is among the key points of departure for tourist passages in the Teteven Balkan.
The place of death, named
Kostina and the monument to Georgi Benkovski are situated 4km from the village.
Тhe Teteven Balkan Mountain is included in the territory of the National Park
Central Balkan. The two natural reserves
Boatin,
Tsarichina, and Kozya stena are located within its framework.
Closely situated are also the huts "Georgi Benkovski", "Eho" and "Vejen". A real paradise for the ornithologists is the protected area "Chernia Rut" where a variety of birds can be observed.
The historical
Glojenski Monastery is located above the village of Glojene (15 km from Teteven).
There is no such other monastery in Bulgaria, “landed” on a rocky edge, which looks like a Medieval Castle. It was erected in 13 th century by the Kiev prince Glozh, after its escape from South Russia.
25km northwest from the town is situated the cave
Sueva Dupka. There is no regular transport, though there is a good asphalt road up to the cave. One can use the regular bus lines to the village of Brestnitza.
On the land of the town there are many other nature landmarks: the caves "Liastovitsa" and "Morovitsa" and the waterfalls "Praskaloto" and "Skoka" tucked in the wild nature.
Description
