Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Pleven
064 / POP 106,000
Roughly halfway between Sofia and Ruse, Pleven is mainly of interest as a transport hub,
with good links to destinations across northern Bulgaria and beyond. It's a languid and
fairly lacklustre place, though, and there's little incentive to stay, but if you do stop over,
there are a few interesting sights and plenty of cafes in the extensive pedestrian centre.
Bulgaria's highest temperatures are often recorded in Pleven, and summer in the city can
be a little stifling.
The city is best known as the site of the decisive Siege of Pleven (or Plevna, as it was
then known) between July and December 1877, when Russian and Romanian troops be-
sieged and finally took the city from the Turks at the cost of more than 40,000 lives. After
the city's fall, the rest of Bulgaria was soon liberated.
At the heart of Pleven is the expansive pl Vazrazhdane, which blends seamlessly into
the pedestrian pl Svobodata. From here, ul Vasil Levski - also mostly pedestrianised -
meanders northwards to the neighbouring bus and train stations on pl Republika.
Sights
Pleven's main pedestrian square, pl Vazrazhdane is dominated by the ornate neo- Byzanti-
ne
Mausoleum
, which holds the remains of the Russian and Romanian soldiers who died
liberating the city in 1877. The square itself is one of the biggest in Bulgaria and features
several impressive fountains and water cascades.
Historical Museum
(
www.plevenmuseum.dir.bg
;
ul Stoyan Zaimov 3; adult/student 2/1 lv; free Mon;
9.30am-noon & 12.30-6pm Mon-Sat)
A few blocks south of pl Vazrazhdane, this town
museum houses 24 galleries of exhibits, including neolithic pottery, Roman mosaic floors,
folk costumes, reconstructions of traditional rural homes and 19th-century furnishings and
fashions.
MUSEUM
Tsar Aleksander II House Museum
(ul Vasil Levski; 2 lv; 9am-noon & 2.30-5pm Mon-Fri)
Sitting in a city centre park,
this modest cottage was where the Russian tsar, Alexander II, accepted the surrender of
the Turkish general Osman Pasha after the 1877 Siege of Pleven. The four rooms have
MUSEUM
