Kutlovitsa

On the Ogosta River below the western Balkan Mountains, Kutlovitsa grew in a landscape once occupied by the Roman town of Montanensium. In Roman times the surrounding district was valued for its mineral deposits, and gold was extracted in the river valley. The later settlement was known to the Ottomans as Kutlofça; an Ottoman register from 1525–1526 records the settlement of Turkish-speaking Muslims in the area.

In 1688 the Chiprovtsi uprising brought fighting to Kutlovitsa. Bulgarian insurgents led by Georgi Peyachevich occupied the town during their campaign against Ottoman rule, before the rebellion was eventually defeated. The struggle drew in Ottoman forces and the Hungarian allies of Count Thököly, leaving the neighboring mountain communities to face the consequences of the failed rising.