Shipka: Hotels and Accommodation
Accommodation in Shipka
Shipka is the starting point of the Shipka Pass. It crosses the Balkan Mountains and connects northern and southern Bulgaria. Anyone planning an overnight stay in Shipka will want to book a hotel for this purpose.
Culture
Local cultural activists in Shipka preserved a Revival-period house in the town center and converted it into the Chirpanlieva House Ethnographic Museum. Chirpanlieva House is one of the few surviving buildings from the Bulgarian National Revival period in Shipka and houses a valuable ethnographic collection. It also preserves glass plates by Antip Obusharov documenting life in Shipka between 1906 and 1931.
The Svetlina-1861 Community Center in Shipka is one of Bulgaria’s first community centers and has a rich, well-preserved history.
History
The Memorial Church of the Nativity of Christ in Shipka proper is a religious and historical monument with gilded domes, a bell tower, frescoes, and a crypt. The crypt contains the remains of almost 9,000 Russian and Bulgarian soldiers from the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. The church is easily accessible by car and can be reached from Kazanlak by intercity bus line 6.
The Shipka National Park-Museum on Shipka Peak features an open-air battlefield complex with monuments, reconstructed positions, batteries, and shelters. The Freedom Monument contains an exhibition spread over seven floors and an observation point with panoramic views of the historic battlefield. The Shipka National Park-Museum also offers transport and hiking excursions to sites within the park.
Trails
The Bosilkoveț Trail connects Shipka, Strŭmnata Polyana, and the Buzludzha Hut and is accessible for most of the year. The Shipka–Shipka Monastery–Russian Cemeteries–Shipka Peak route is intended as an educational hiking trail.
Surroundings
One kilometer south of Shipka lies the Thracian tomb of Seuthes III at Golyama Kosmatka; visiting hours are provided for it. The Shushmanets temple-tomb is also located one kilometer south of Shipka and has a corridor, an antechamber, and a round, domed chamber with white plaster. The Ostrusha tomb and cult complex lies two kilometers south of Shipka and includes a monolithic chamber carved out of a large block of stone.
The Archaeocomplex near Shipka offers five guest houses with a capacity of up to 30 people.
To the higher-level travel overview: Stara Zagora Province.
