Lovech Province

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Lovech region shown within Bulgaria.

The Glozhene Monastery near Teteven.

Lovech's ruined fortress.

Lovech is a province in central Bulgaria. Its main city is Lovech, while other towns include Troyan, Yablanitsa and Teteven. Lovech is famous for its Covered bridge built by the self-taught master-builder known as Kolyu Ficheto.

Lovech has a well preserved medieval fortress which played a key role in the rebellion of the brothers Asen and Petar in 1186 which led to the establishment of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom.

Also during the battle for independence from the Ottoman rule, the national hero Vasil Levski, a freedom fighter, centered his revolutionary organisation (BRCC) in Lovech. Moreover - he was captured by the Turks near a Lovech village, called Kakrina. A large stone monument of Vasil Levski is built right next to the medieval fortress. There is also a museum devoted to Levski and the BRCC. It is situated in Varosha (Вароша) - an area which has preserved the architecture and atmosphere of the time of the Bulgarian national revival. Many of the houses there are connected in some way with Levski and his revolutionary activity.

In more recent times, Lovech was the place where modern foreign language education in Bulgaria started. Taking over from the American college established there in the late 19th century (1881), the first foreign language school in Bulgaria was set up in Lovech in 1950. Initially three languages were taught in this school - English, French and German. However soon after that the teaching of English and French was moved to Sofia and Varna respectively, founding the first language schools in these cities - 1st English Language School in Sofia in 1954 and the French Language School in Varna in 1958. Since for the period 1959-1984 German was the only language taught, the school in Lovech was informally known as The German School (Немската гимназия).