page_title: Etropole
section_title: Places of interest
hierarchical_section_title: Etropole / Places of interest
caption_attribution_description: Български: Часовниковата кула в град Етрополе, България English: The clock tower in town Etropole, Bulgaria
context_page_description: Etropole is a town in western Bulgaria, part of Sofia Province. It is located close to the northern slopes of the Balkan Mountains in the valley of the Iskar River 80 km from Sofia.
context_section_description: The clockwork tower of Etropole built in 1710 is one of the oldest in Bulgaria. It originally served as a defensive structure until in 1821 a master builder by the name of Dido reconstructed it as a clock tower. With its height at about 20 metres (66 ft)  it stands above most of the buildings in the small town. The clockwork tower is one of the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria along with the Monastery of the Holy Trinity and the History museum of Etropole.
  The Etropole Monastery, also known as Varovitets, is located 5 km (3 mi) from the town. It is a Bulgarian Orthodox monastery and was founded in the 12th or 13th century. The monastery is also the home of the spectacular Etropole Waterfall “Varovitets”.
  To learn more about the history of Etropole you can visit the Historical Museum of Etropole. The History Museum in Etropole launched its first exhibition in 1958. Ten years later, in 1968, the second exhibition of the museum was opened in the restored building of the former Turkish police office. The museum of Etropole is still housed there. The building was constructed in the period 1853 – 1870. This is the second public building in Etropole after the Clock Tower (1710) that has survived to this day. The ten halls of the museum tell about the past of the Etropole Region.
  The village of Lopyan (Лопян) is located in the Etropole municipality and is situated at the foot of the northern slopes of the Central Balkan Mountain. It is one of the oldest villages in the region and its story began at the time of the Thracians, when the territory was inhabited by the tribe Luposi from where name of the village most likely origins. 
  Three kilometres from Lopyan are the remains of the Thracian fortress Chertigrad (built in 4th or 3rd centuries BC and probably functioned until the 6th century AD).
caption: The Clock tower
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