The town of Pleven is situated in the middle part of the Danube hilly lowland, 160 km from the capital – Sofia, 320 km from the Black Sea and 30 km south from the Danube river. One can reach the town by the first-class road Sofia – Varna (Е83). The town population is about 135,000 people. Pleven falls in an area of temperate-continental climate with large temperature amplitudes from - 15 ° C during the winter to + 35 – 40 ° C during the summer.
The history of the town and the region dates back to thousands of years ago. The earliest evidences about human presence in the region are related to the end of the 5th millennium BC. In the beginning of the new era these lands became part of the Roman Empire. The Roman road station of Storgozia situated by the present day’s location of Pleven, and later a fortress with the same name, were constructed on the road from the Roman town Ulpia Escus (nowadays its remains are situated by the village of Gigen) to Philipopolis (nowadays’ Plovdiv).
During the Middle Ages the settlement was a strong fortress with well developed Bulgarian crafts and mostly trading with leather, wool, tobacco and cattle. The settlement of Slavs and Bulgarians in the 6th – 7th century led to changing the name of the locality - Pleven. Pleven became famous mostly for its active participation in the war between Russia and Turkey in 1877-1878. The town was under siege for five months, and the bloodiest battles between the two belligerent empires – Russia and Turkey were conducted around it. On 10 December 1877 the victorious outcome of the war was established, the Russian army succeeded in defeating and capturing the army of Osman Pasha, and the day was announced an official day of Pleven.
Some of the most interesting landmarks of the town are the Historical Museum, the Panorama “Pleven Epopee”, the Wine Museum in the Kaylaka Park and the remains of Storgoziya Fortress.
The historical museum is housed in an impressive two-storey building – a monument of culture built for cantonment in 1884 – 1888 according to an Italian project.
The museum expositions occupy 24 halls with an area of 7,000 square meters in the building, as well as a park with an open exposition with an area of 37 dca. The Archaeology exposition includes exponents of Prehistory, the Roman Age and the Bulgarian Middle Ages. Among the most attractive of them are collections of flint labor tools from 50 – 45 thousands of years BC, an original residence of the 5 thousand years BC, a copy of the Valchitran Golden Treasure, etc.
The exposition in Ethnography section presents the material and spiritual culture in Pleven and the nearby settlements – traditional lodgings, crafts, festal costumes and jewels of the 19th and the 20th century.
The Revival section keeps valuable documents and articles from the Age of Bulgarian Revival, and the Contemporary History section traces the development of industry and culture in Pleven after the Liberation in 1878.
The regional Historical Museum in Pleven also keeps an exposition dedicated to nature, which includes samples from the local nature, as well as a petrified thigh bone of Archidiscodon – a prehistoric animal from the group of elephant-like animals, which lived on our lands during the Pliocene Age before 3.5 – 4 million years.
One of the most attractive museum halls is dedicated to the opera singer Gena Dimitrova (1941 – 2005), who was born in the Pleven village of Beglizh. Here one can see a lot of personal belongings of the opera queen, donated to the museum by her family, as well as originals and copies of her stage costumes, in which she had sung on global scenes.
The Panorama “Pleven Epopee 1877” is the only monument of its kind on the Bulgarian

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