Some 18 km before Vama, is the Stone Forest — a semidesert area covered with yellow sand and groups of stone columns up to 6-7 m high. They are supposed to have been formed as a result of the action of the wind, water and sand, which eroded the softer rocks, leaving the hardei ones. Recently another group of stone trees was found near the village of Beloslav.
SOFIA – KARLOVO – KAZANLUK – MOUNT SHIPKA – SLIVEN – ROURGAS – SLUNCHEV BRYAG (440 km)
This route runs along one of Bulgaria's most modem mo-torways, E-772, between the Balkan Range and Sredna Gora mountain towards the sea, crossing the famous Valley of Roses. The road climbs the Sarantsi saddle and Gulubets hill and then descends into Zlatitsa-Pirdop valley to the town of Srednogo- rie (pop. 15,800) which was founded in 1978 by merging the towns of Zlatitsa and Pirdop and has refineries for copper, blue vitriol, rare and white metals. 20 km south is the Pana- gyurski kolonii resort.
Bulgaria's largest Coppermine (Medet) is nearby.
16 km from Srednogorie a detour leads to Koprivshtitsa (pop. 3,600) situated on both sides of the Topolnitsa River at an altitude of 1,060 m. Every street and every house here is a monument to the heroic past of this region. It was here that the first shot was fired on 20 April 1876 to mark the outbreak of the April Uprising against the Turks. Many historical and architectural monuments from the National Revival period have been preserved. The houses of Koprivshtitsa. are particularly interesting — higti spacious buildings with carved wooden decorations, solid stone walls and heavy wooden gates. The oldest architectural monument is the Pavlikenska House, early 18th century. Other buildings include craftsmen's writers'and revolutionaries'houses. Koprivshtitsa was the first town liberated by the partisans on 24 March 1944.
Hotels: Koprivshtitsa, one star, tel. 21-18; Barikadite — (18 km southwest, 3 storeys, 30 beds, restaurant, night club and national taverna. Tel. 20-91).
The next stop along the E-772 isKlissoura (pop. 2,000) — a small mountainous town burnt down during the April 1876 Uprising. The village of Rozino follows, famous for its rose gardens and rose-distilleries. Next is Sopot (11,000), buried in greenery and steeped in the romanticism of the National Revival period. The patriarch of Bulgarian literature — Ivan Va- zov (1850-1921) was bom here and his birth place is now a museum of the National Revival Period, The Museum of Ivan Zagoubanski, courier for the underground Iskra newspaper published in Munich. Balkantourist hotel — Stara Planina — 2 stars, accommodating 84, restaurant. Tel.: 21-23 and 21-25.
Karlovo (pop. 26,000) is situated in the centre of the Valley of Roses and is an important transport junction. The town was well-known in Vienna and Egypt during the National Revival period, thanks to its trade with attar of roses and craftsmen's goods. The revolutionary during liberation from Ottoman domination — Vassil Levski (1837-1873) was bom here and his birth place is now a museum sofia guided tours.
Koprivshtitsa. The monument to GeorgiBenkovski
Balkantourist hotel — Rozova Dolina, accommodating 105; a restaurant. Sofia hotel, a tourist hostel. The next town in the Valley of Roses is Kalofer (pop. 6,000), situated on both banks of the Toundja river, 17 km from Karlovo. It was founded in the 16th century, by refugees after the Ottoman invasion. It developed rapidly probably as a crafts centre. It is the birth place of the poet-revolutionary Hristo Botev (1848 -1876). Roza hotel 2 stars, 2 floors, 50 beds, a tourist hostel.
Further east 39 km from Kalofer is Kazanluk (pop. 58,0) , founded in the 15th century. It was known in the past only as a producer of attar of roses, but today it is an important industrial centre as well.
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