Sopot is a tourist town at the foot of Stara Planina, known as the birthplace of one of the most important Bulgarian writers, Ivan Vlasov. It is also a significant center of craftsmanship and a good starting point for mountain hiking.
The first records of the village come from the Turkish rule. Its greatest heyday was in the 18th and 19th centuries, when it was called the Golden Sopot. The wealth of the inhabitants was based on thriving tanning, furrier, tailor and tapestry factories. To this day, Sopot is an important craft center, and the local products are sold both domestically and exported.
The figure of Ivan Vlazov, a Bulgarian writer who was born here in 1850, brought Sopot great fame. The Ivan Vlazov Museum with reconstructed interiors from the second half of the 19th century is also located in his home. everyday life of the inhabitants of the mountainous part of Bulgaria during the National Revival in the 19th century
Other monuments of Sopot and the surrounding area are also noteworthy. In the center of the village there is a female Orthodox monastery of the Mother of God, erected in the 17th century. Its present appearance is the result of reconstruction after a fire in the late 19th century. Nearby stands the Orthodox Church of St. Peter and Paul, and on the outskirts of Sopot you can see the monastery where the famous Bulgarian freedom fighter Wasil Lewski stayed. Outside the center there are also ruins of the medieval Anewsko fortress. An interesting monument is the 19th century Grandfather Stoyanov's water mill.
Among the biggest attractions of Sopot is the Sopot chairlift, one of the longest in the Balkans. You can go along it to an altitude of approx. 1600 m above sea level in the vicinity of the Nezabrawka shelter, from where trails start in various corners of Stara Planina. There is a starting point for hang gliders and paragliders at the mid-lift station.
