The town of Ivailovgrad has a population of 4 000 inhabitants and is a municipal centre with 50 component settlements. The town lies at a distance of 120 km southeast of Haskovo. Until 1934 the town is known under the name of Ortakyoi.

The present-day town is the successor of the middle age town-fortress Lyutitza. In the Ottoman registry books from 1676 the town is written under the name of Byuyuk Ortakyoi. There are 50 monuments of culture in the town of which 6 are architectural, 18 archaeological and 26 are churches.

The tourist sighs of the town are: the church "Preobrazhenie Gospodne" (1805), traditional Rodopean houses, the History Museum, the Ethnographic Museum, remains from the medieval fortress Lyutitza and the Roman villa "Armira".

Tourist sights

The medieval fortress Lyutitza in the town of Ivailovgrad is situated southwest of the town. The fortified walls are well preserved and at some places reach a height of 10 m. They surround an area of 14 000 m². The Lyutitza fortress has had 12 towers of which 9 are preserved in its almost original way.

The Roman villa "Armira" in Ivailovgrad has been discovered in 1964 during excavations. It dates from II - IV c. and has a precious decoration on the walls and the floors. The marble walls and the multi-coloured floor mosaics depict scenes from the mythology, vegetation images and geometrical figures. The villa has occupied an area of 2 200 m².