Lovech

Lovech is located on the border of the Danube hilly plain and the foothills of the Balkan Mountains in northern Bulgaria, 150 km west of Sofia , 30 km north of Troyan and 30 km south of Pleven . The city is located on both banks of the Osam River. The eastern part of the city is surrounded by a 250-meter plateau, the highest point of which is Mount Strates . The south-western part of the city is surrounded by the hills of Hisarya and Bash Bunar . In the north-west, the relief gradually turns into the plains of the neighboring region of Pleven. The average height of Lovech above sea ​​level is about 200 m. The highest point in the city is Akbir Hill, which is 450 m high.

Lovech has many picturesque parks and places for recreation. In the park Strates a large number of lilac bushes, which bloom in spring can be easily noticed from any point in the city. Because of this, Lovech is also called the city of lilac.

Ancient history

Lovech is one of the oldest cities in Bulgaria. The first inhabitant of the city was the Thracian tribe of the Meldy, the traces of which belong to the 4-3 centuries BC. er In the vicinity of Lovech, they substantiated their capital - the city of Melta.

Later, when the Balkans seized the Roman Empire , a military garrison of the Presidium was established near the modern city, which occupied an important strategic position on one of the main Roman roads.

Middle Ages

In the former Roman fortress of Hisarya in 1187 a peace treaty was concluded between Bulgaria and Byzantium , and the independence of Bulgaria was officially declared. In the 12th century, Lovech was a large shopping center and one of the most famous cities in Bulgaria.

The Turkish invasion in the middle of the 14th century did not bypass Lovech, the last, in 1446 , captured the fortress of Hisarya, although for a long time the city had such privileges as a ban on Turks from settling in the city and taking Bulgarian children to the janissaries .

Ottoman period

In the 16th — 17th centuries, Lovech again became an important trading center and one of the richest cities in Bulgaria, for which the city was called Altan Lovech (Golden Lovech) in 1520.

1784 - the most difficult year in the history of the city, then it was almost completely burned and destroyed by the Turkish army. Of the 20,000 city dwellers, only 4,600 survived.

On October 17, 1810 (Art. Art.), During the Russian-Turkish war of 1806–1812 , the detachment of General M. S. Vorontsov of the Danube Army, General N. M. Kamensky, took Lovech ^[3] . After that, the Turks reoccupied the city and fortified 15 thousand with the army of Osman Bey. N. Kamensky ordered the detachment of Gen.-Major gr. Saint-Prix retakes the Lovchi, which was performed on January 31, 1811 (Art. Art.). The operation prevented the great vizier Ahmet Bey from advancing into western Bulgaria. General Mikhail Vorontsov , Colonel Konstantin Poltoratsky , Lieutenant Colonel Osip Vtorov , Prince Fedor Gagarin, and others. The Russian military received awards for the captured Lovchi. The Russians moved in the same year 1811 back to the Danube and the Turks robbed the city.

At the time of the creation of revolutionary organizations fighting against the Ottoman rule , Lovech became the center of operations of the Internal Revolutionary Organization of Vasil Levski called the Secret Revolutionary Committee. Levski was captured in a village near Lovech and later hanged in Sofia. In the old part of the city is the museum of Vasil Levski.

In 1872 - 1874, master K. Ficheto built a bridge over the Osam River, which became famous as an architectural monument (in 1925, the bridge damaged the fire, but in 1931 it was rebuilt, and in 1982, under the guidance of architect K. Zlatev, the bridge was renovated and reconstructed) ^[4] .

After 1877

During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878, the Russians liberated the city twice: on July 5, 1877 (Art. Art.) And finally on August 22, 1877.

^[five]

July 5, 1877 detachment of the regiment. Zherebkova occupied the city. A temporary administration was organized. The small garrison of Lieutenant Colonel Baklanov, along with the hundreds of the 23rd Cossack regiment, had only two guns. On July 15, 1877, a Rifata-Pasha detachment consisting of 4,000 infantry with six guns, sent by Osman Pasha , took Lovech. After that, 1,500 residents of the city and its environs were killed by the Yatagan Turk. Rifat Pasha created a whole system of fortifications on Kirimsite (now Strates). On August 17, the large Russian forces, headed by Major General AK Imeretinsky (Bagration) , were moved to Lovech. Considering the strengthening of the enemy, the preponderance of the Russian army, numbering about 20 thousand people and 98 guns, was small. The enemy had a 15,000-strong garrison under the command of Rifat Pasha, with modern rifle and artillery weapons. The attack was carried out on August 22 in two columns: the left — General M. D. Skobelev ^[6] and the right — General V. M. Dobrovolsky. The main attack on the Turkish positions was undertaken by Skobelev, first with 5000 soldiers, then with 9000, and the Turks were pushed aside from Lovcha, having lost 5200 people. killed Russian losses amounted to 1500 people. killed and wounded. See Pleven . Many Bulgarians died in the battles. All the battalions of the Kaluga and Libavsky regiments were awarded the St. George banners with the inscription "For the capture of the Catcher on August 22, 1877". ^{[7] The} number of monuments ^[8] erected in honor of the release of Lovech (Lovech) reaches 13, including the stone “white” ^[9] , “black” of cast-iron plates in memory of the fallen heroes of the 1st battalion of the Shuya regiment ^[10] ( both on the Stratesh Hill), several marble monuments above the mass graves of soldiers of the Kazan Regiment, five monuments in the center on Syr-Pazar and a monument to the commander of the 2nd Pskov Infantry Regiment, Colonel Kusovu in the courtyard of the church of Sts. Trinity. Their consecration took place on September 3, 1879.

In 1938, a decision was made to build an aircraft factory in the town of Lovech, in 1939, with the participation of Polish engineers, the construction of the DSF aircraft factory, which began work in 1941, was started here.

In 1962, the Lovech stadium was built.

In 1983, the Varosha quarter (architectural and historical conservation zone) was reconstructed ^[11] .

In 1985, the population of Lovech was 49 thousand people, the city was the center of the automotive, electrical, woodworking, textile, leather and fruit processing industries ^[12] .

• Sparky Eltos

• Eliseev, Alexey Stanislavovich , cosmonaut
• Rukavishnikov, Nikolai Nikolayevich , cosmonaut
• Ivanov, Georgy Ivanov , cosmonaut
• Anastas Ishirkov , scientist, geographer and ethnographer
• Parensov, Peter Dmitrievich , General
• Kuropatkin, Alexey Nikolaevich , General
• Gembitsky, Mikhail Varfolomeyevich , Colonel
• Tutolmin, Ivan , General
• Markus, Boris Sergeevich , architect
• Dimiter Mishev , academician
• Savelyeva, Lyudmila Mikhailovna , actress
• Kasatkin, Sergey Colonel
• Kanitz, Felix Philip
• Yorgova, Diana of Christ , athlete, Olympic medalist, European champion

Kmet (Mayor) of the Lovech community - Mincho Stoykov Kazandzhiev ( Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) ) according to the results of elections to the community board.