Karlovo, Bulgaria

Set against a backdrop of lofty, arid crags and hollows descending to slopes partly covered with cypresses and fig trees, KARLOVO is one of the most attractive towns in the Valley of the Roses, despite its dreary suburbs and the presence of a large army garrison. Hidden uphill, the charming old quarter, birthplace of the great revolutionary, Vasil Levski, is a pleasant place to wander.

Towards the south side is the colonnaded basilica of the Church of Sveti Nikola, with its separate and once elegant bell tower, both, sadly, in a state of disrepair. Just uphill from here, cobbled alleys lead into a quarter full of nineteenth-century houses and spruced-up mansions. The bright blue bell tower of the Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa, on ul. Vasil Levski, is the most eye-catching feature of this part of town; the church itself is also worthy of closer attention, not least for the colourful modern fresco on the porch. The dark interior is rather sombre in comparison, though it's enlivened by a splendid, and very high, wooden pulpit, and an ornate iconostasis adorned with double-headed eagles. A little further up and on the opposite side of the street, the Centre for Crafts and Cultural Traditions at no. 31A (Tsentar za zanayati i kultirni traditsii; daily 9am–5pm; free) occupies an attractively restored nineteenth-century house, and displays local woodcarving, embroidery and carpet weaving inside.

Heading west from pl. 20 Yuli, you'll find the Vasil Levski House-Museum (daily 9am–1pm & 2–5pm; 2Lv), behind a low wall at ul. Gen. Kartsov 57. A simple quadrangle with a verandah, its living quarters are austere, furnished with the usual low wooden table and stools, while a single shelf arranged with pewter dishes provides the nearest thing to ornamentation. Behind the house, a gallery holds a collection of paintings of Levski, in a variety of Christ-like attitudes, as well as photographs of his comrades in the First and Second Bulgarian Legions, and a few documents and weapons.