Elena

The nineteenth-century National Revival  town of Elena is located  40km southeast of Veliko Tarnovo. During the centuries under the Ottoman power the Turks used the town's population to guard the local mountain passes, giving them a measure of autonomy in return, so painters and woodcarvers of nineteenth-century Elena were able to decorate the churches of the surrounding countryside, and patriotic local merchants could finance the restoration of nearby monasteries like Kapinovo. Although Elena has not been renovated to the same extent as other National Revival towns, the core of nineteenth-century structures grouped around the hilltop church make a visit here more than worthwhile.