In the region

There is hardly a Bulgarian who has not heard of the Okolchitsa peak in the Vratsa Mountain - in 1876, Khristo Botev and his company fought here their toughest battles over three days outgunned and outnumbered by a far superior enemy. Many of them perished here, with the death place of the great Bulgarian poet and revolutionary Khristo Botev not far away.

The Lakatnik (Osikovo) Rocks are a set of beautiful escarpments, slopes, pyramids, pillars, caves and karst springs located on the left bank of the Iskar River between the rivers Opletnenska and Proboinitsa. The name of the rocks, and of the well-known train station lying below them, comes from the sharp bend of the Iskar River right there resembling an elbow (lakat in Bulgarian).

The Osenovlag, one of the most interesting monasteries nationwide, also known as the Seven Thrones, is located in the Iskar Gorge, 5 kilometres south of Eliseyna Station, in the Gabrovnitsa River Valley. The monastery emerged as a spiritual centre in the 10th-11th century. According to one of the legends regarding the monastery's creation, it was related to Tsar Peter II Delyan's brother, Prince Georgi, who took the vows and the monastic name Gavril.

The monastery is located in a beautiful mountainous area in the vicinity of Strupets, near the meanders of Iskar down the northern slopes of the Old Mountain. According to scant information, the Tirzhishte /Strupets/ monastery existed since the early 14th century, when a market /tirzhishte/ operated in the vicinity, hence the monastery's name.

Travelling through the Iskar Gorge, do not miss the spot from which the blind Vazov character "watched" endearingly the newly built railway, sharing his enthusiasm by famously saying, "I am watching those things Bulgarian!"