Mihailovgrad population 50,000) is the next big town along the route. There was a settlement on this site under the Romans when its name was Montana, It was an important and strong fortress and one of the large gold centres of the Balkans. The Slavs named it Koutiovitsa (1576), while in 1891 it was named after Tsar Ferdinand. Since 1945 it has borne the name of our leading revolutionary Hristo Mihailov. The town was an important centre for the September 1923 Uprising.To- day it has a well developed industry.
The town's main street is Georgi Dimitrov Boulevard. The largest shops are here, the drama theatre — a pleasant modem budding, the youth and trade-union buildings, the district library and the library club. The town centre is very spacious with modern buildings. At the railway station you can see the engine and the gun which were used in the September 1923 uprising. A shady boulevard leads to the public gardens. On Vratsa. The monument to poet and revolutionary 80 Hristo Botev the right is the Ogosta hotel and restaurant. 1 he hotel is an eight-storey building accommodating 113. There is a restaurant, with outdoor terraces, (tel. 26-11769-51). Another hotel — Zhitomir — 2 stars. 178 rooms, restaurant, bar, cafeteria and an information office. The main Council buddings are located in the main square. In front of them stands a monument to members of the September Uprising. It s three flames depict the three landmarks of the town — 1688,1923 and 1944. Not far from the town is the September Uprising Museum. In the Kaleto fortress archaeologists have discovered walls and remains of ancient buildings, stone blocks with inscriptions, ceramic fragments. The necropolis at the foot of Kaleto fortress, the sanctuary and the huge temple to Apollo and Artemis are of particular interest. Many archaeological finds are exhibited in the archaeological museum.
The picturesque town of Berkovitsa
The picturesque town of Berkovitsa (pop. 17,000) is situated south of Mihailovgrad. There was a settlement there from ancient times. The town is surrounded by rich orchards and raspberry plantations. Tourist attractions include Vazov Museum sofia city tour, where he lived in 1879 and 1880 as chairman of the district court; the Ethnographic Museum with an art gallery — exhibiting works by several generations of local artists, a museum collection on the revolutionaiy Emil Markov, who was bom in the town and who died in a skirmish with the police in Sofia in 1943; the Kaleto fortress with its basilicas and buildings from early Chnstian times. Discoveries show that there was a settlement from the mid-third millennium B.C. until the late Middle Ages. Here is Hotel Mramor with restaurant, accommodating 96.
The spa resort of Vurshets (pop. 7,000) is 18 km from Berkovitsa on the road to Vratsa. The water temperature ranges from 33.6°C to 36.6°C and has a low mineral content and is beneficial for treatment of functional and cardio-vascular diseases, neuroses, rheumatism and diseases of the joints. There are several hydropathic sanatoria and rest houses and hostel. The Balkantourist Zdravets hotel has 140 beds, a restaurant and disco (tel. 21-61), The Nezabravka villa has a museum collection tracing the revolutionary history of the region.
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