called Kakrina and later hanged in Sofia. The biggest museum of Vasil Levski in Bulgaria, which contains several personal items such as notebooks, clothes, and weapons. It is situated in the old town part of Lovech. Between 1872 and 1874, the Bulgarian master-builder Nikola Fichev, known also as Kolyu Ficheto, built the famous Covered Bridge (Покрит мост) over the river Osam, the only one of its kind in the Balkans. The bridge was burned out in 1925, but rebuilt in 1931. Now it connects the new and the old part of the town and it's full of cafes, small restaurants and many souvenir shops. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, an important battle was held at Lovech, known as the Battle of Lovcha. The war and several plagues and migrations in Wallachia drastically reduced the population. There was a substantial number of victims from the Bulgarian population. Many Turkish families were expelled by the Russian army and the Muslims of Lovech known to be "Lofçalılar" have immigrated to several parts of Turkey (mainly Istanbul, Edirne and Bursa). Modern times In more recent times, Lovech was the place where modern foreign language education in Bulgaria started. Taking over from the American college established there in 1881, the first foreign language school in Bulgaria was set up in Lovech in 1950. Initially three languages were taught in this school: English, French and German. However soon after that the teaching of English and French was moved to Sofia and Varna respectively, founding the first language schools in these cities: the First English Language School in Sofia in 1954 and the French Language School in Varna in 1958. Since for the period 1959-1984 German was the only language taught, the school in Lovech was informally known as The German School (Немската гимназия). Economy On April 9, 2009, Great Wall Motor and the Bulgarian company Litex Motors signed a contract for building a production base that would manufacture three models of the Chinese manufacturer near Lovech. The new plant was opened on February 21, 2012. The investment is worth around 97 million euros and will create 2,000 new jobs over the first four years. It will be Great Wall Motor's gate of entering the European Union market, thanks to the zero tariff levels. Main sights The Covered Bridge by Kolyu Ficheto The monument of Vasil Levski The monuments to Russian soldiers killed in the Russo-Turkish