Gabrovo

Gabrovo (67,350 residents) is the largest town in the region. It spreads out on the banks of Yantra River at the foot of the mountain. The attitude is 392 m. above the sea level. Near Gabrovo is the geographical centre of Bulgaria.
Gabrovo lies 20 km North from Shipka Pass, 220 km from Sofia and 274 from Varna.
A railway line and a road network ensure links with the entire country.
The town’s vicinities offer good facilities for recreation and tourism.
 
 
Gabrovo was the cradle of new Bulgarian education. The Aprilov School (1835) was the first Bulgarian secular school. The monumental building, constructed to resemble the Rishelyov Lyceum in Odessa, is today both a school and a National Museum of Education.
            The Dechkova House hosts the Museum of Urban Mode of Life from the 18th and 19th century. Impressive samples of National Revival architecture are the Clock tower (1835), the Baev Bridge built specially for the visit of Sultan Abdul Medzhid in 1855, the Church of Uspenie Bogorodichno, whose icons and carvings are the masterpiece of Renaissance wood-carving schools.
 
 
Tourist Information Centre - Gabrovo
2, Vazrazhdane Sq., tel./ fax: +359 66/ 284 83
e-mail: did@veda.bg
More information at: www.staraplanina.org