Iskar ( bg, Искър, ; also transliterated as ''Iskur'' or ''Iskǎr''; former name ''Pelovo'') is a town in central northern

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, part of

Pleven Province Pleven Province ( bg, Област Плевен or Плевенска Област) is a province located in central northern Bulgaria, bordering the Danube river, Romania and the Bulgarian provinces of Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo and Lovech. It i ...

. It is the administrative centre of Iskar Municipality, which lies in the western part of the Province. The town of Iskar is located in the central Danubian Plain, near the Iskar River, 18 kilometres from

Knezha Knezha ( bg, Кнежа, ) is a town in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is the administrative center of the homonymous Knezha Municipality. History The town's name is most probably derived from the Slavic word ''knyaz'' ("prince, duke" ...

and 32 kilometres from the provincial capital of

Pleven Pleven ( bg, Плèвен ) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest ...

. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 3,622 inhabitants.Bulgarian National Statistical Institute - towns in 2009
According to the tradition, Iskar was founded in the early 17th century as a hamlet of around 20 houses near the river. It was known as ''Mahalata'', ''Gorum Mahala'' and ''Pisarevska Mahala''. A private school was opened in 1829 and the church of Saint Demetrius with a religious school was built in 1837.

Vasil Levski Vasil Levski ( bg, Васил Левски, spelled in old Bulgarian orthography as , ), born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (; 18 July 1837 – 18 February 1873), was a Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed t ...

founded a secret revolutionary committee in the village in 1872. Following the

Liberation of Bulgaria The Liberation of Bulgaria is the historical process as a result of the Bulgarian Revival. In Bulgarian historiography, the liberation of Bulgaria refers to those events of the Tenth Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) that led to the re-establishme ...

, a new school was built in 1897, with an additional storey added in 1924; the modern school building was inaugurated in 1999.

References

External links

Iskar municipality website
Towns in Bulgaria Populated places in Pleven Province {{Pleven-geo-stub