The village of Shipka sits at the foot of the Balkan range on the edge of the Rose Valley, and above it, on the slopes leading to the pass, the golden onion domes of a Russian church shine out of the forest like something from a fairy tale. The Shipka Memorial Church was built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to honour the Russian and Bulgarian soldiers who died in the battles for the pass during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 to 1878, and its bells were cast from the spent cartridges collected on the battlefield. It is one of the most striking buildings in Bulgaria.
The battles for the Shipka Pass were among the most important of that war, which led to the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. Russian troops and Bulgarian volunteers held the pass against repeated Ottoman attacks through the summer and the bitter winter of 1877, and the defence became a national legend. On the summit above the pass, a stone Freedom Monument, reached by a long flight of steps, commemorates the battles, and from the top the views stretch across the Balkan range and down to the Rose Valley.
The road from Shipka climbs to the pass in long loops through beech forest, with gradients that are steady rather than steep and views back down to the valley. Patches and rough sections break up otherwise reasonable tarmac, and summer weekends bring a stream of tourist cars and coaches. From the pass, a side road leads to Buzludzha, a peak crowned by the abandoned communist party monument that looks like a flying saucer, now a famous ruin. The road north from the pass descends to Gabrovo, a town famous in Bulgaria for its humour.
Shipka has a few shops and taverns, but for fuel and anything more, Kazanlak, about twelve kilometres to the south, is the place to go. Kazanlak is the centre of the rose oil industry, and in late May and early June the fields of the valley are full of pink Damask roses being picked for their oil, with a rose festival held in the town. Kazanlak also has a famous Thracian tomb with beautiful frescoes, a UNESCO site, with a replica open to visitors. The valley bakes in summer while the pass stays several degrees cooler and can disappear into cloud within minutes.