Lovech

Lovech stands on the Osam River in northern Bulgaria, between the Danubian plain and the Balkan Mountains. Its Hisarya fortress is associated with the late twelfth-century struggle that established the Second Bulgarian Empire. By 1330 Ivan Alexander governed Lovech, a centre controlling routes through the mountain passes.

Under Ottoman rule the town was known as Lofça. In the seventeenth century it became an important trading centre and acquired the name Altın Lofça, or Golden Lovech. Its location joined the town's commercial life to routes between the plains and uplands.