Lovech
The city of Lovech is the center of this administrative region. It is situated along the two banks of the Osam river. It was founded as a Bulgarian fortress in the Middle Ages over the ruins of a Roman road station. It has been known under name Lovech since 12th century. Houses of Ranaissance architecture have been preserved in the ancient part of the town, called Varosha. On the place where there was a covered bridge built by Kolyo Ficheto in 1874, nowadays there is a covered iron-concrete bridge with shops along it.
One of the major cities in this region is Veliko Tarnovo founded at the foot of the Northern Fore-Balkan Range. Historians date it back to 4th millenium B.C. The town of Veliko Tàrnovo has inherited centuries-old Prehistoric, Thracian and Antique culture and in 1185 it became a center of the Bulgarian Uprising against Byzantine domination and the capital of the restored Bulgarian state. The medieval town of Tàrnovo was rapidly expanding and developed into the strongest Bulgarian fortress during the 12-14th cc. It became the most significant political, economic, cultural and religious center of Bulgaria.
The Tàrnovo Schools of Literature and Arts were established and developed here. Remarkable architectural monuments were created; miniature and monumental painting, literature, plastic arts and crafts achieved high artistic level.
