Thirteen kilometres southeast of Pravets is ETROPOLE , a quiet agricultural town surrounded by subalpine pastures. The centre, a couple of blocks west of the bus station, harbours the usual eighteenth-century clock tower and a small museum , the latter containing memorabilia of Etropole's past as a wealthy mining town that attracted Saxon immigrants in the Middle Ages. Today, most visitors come for the fresh mountain air and numerous walking possibilities, while the monastery of Sveta Troitsa , 4km to the east above the village of Ribaritsa , also offers an interesting diversion. Founded in 1158, the monastery complex centres around its church, with its four hexagonal towers, set in a grassy courtyard. Although the monastery was a well-known literary centre in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when monks copied and distributed Bulgarian manuscripts, these days the handful of nuns who live here see relatively few tourists.

Getting to the monastery is fairly easy. About five daily buses run from Etropole to Ribaritsa, but these are usually early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Alternatively, it's an hour's walk : turn right out of Etropole bus station into ul. Partizanska, walk to the end of the street where the Ribaritsa road forks right, then after 50m bear right onto a partly asphalted track which takes you over the hills to Ribaritsa itself - where a signposted lane climbs to the monastery. Following the lane beyond the monastery takes you uphill to an area of rolling pastures traversed by local shepherds - ideal for short hikes.

For those who wish to stay , there's a three-star hotel, the Etropole , just above the bus station (tel 0712/3616; US$18-36), and a frugal but friendly establishment, the Hotel Etropol , on the main town square (tel 0712/2018; US$9-18).