Elena ( ) is a Bulgarian town in the central Stara Planina mountain in Veliko Tarnovo Province, located 42 km (26 miles) southeast of Veliko Tarnovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Elena Municipality. The area is also a mountain resort, known for the typical local cuisine. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 5,665 inhabitants. It forms a terminal for the Gorna Oryahovitsa-Elena railway line. History and architecture Elena is an old settlement founded before the 15th century. During the 18th and 19th century it established itself as a centre for crafts, trade and education. There are several architectural ensembles preserved dating back to the Bulgarian National Revival and comprising about 130 old houses. There are also wall-to-wall construction forms and interesting street silhouettes. The houses have stone basements with white-washed or wooden walls of the upper floor with protruding bays above. The town's sights include an old first class school, founded in 1848 and named Daskalolivnitsa, where future teachers were educated (and where nowadays a museum exhibition is arranged). The St Nicholas Church of the 16th century, with valuable mural paintings and icons, and the three-naved Church of the Assumption, built entirely of stone (1837). The clock tower (Chasovnikova kula) that features an antique clock mechanism (1812) rises at the town's highest point. Legend about Elena's founding There are many legends about the establishment of the town of Elena, the most common is about two lovers. The legend says that in the virgin forests of the Balkan Mountains was a pathway. A happy newly married couple was passing through this way. The bride was called Elena – from the village of , and the groom was Samuil from Tvarditsa. Bandits attacked the wedding ceremony at the place where the town of Elena is situated today. Elena fought with the abductors and they killed her near the Bridge of the Turkish Police office. She was interred in a grave in the area called "The Cross" that was later made into a churchyard. Samuil was beheaded at the end of the present town now known as . Because of the sorrow towards their son, Samuil's parents settled down in this region and established the village that was named after Elena. Geography The town of Elena is situated in the skirts of the woody Elena Balkan range, in the valley of Elena river. On the north