From the old capital we set off to the city of museums - Pleven. Pleven is the seventh largest city in Bulgaria and is a famous tourist centre. The city is home to many cultural and historical sites, many of which are associated with
Russian-Turkish Liberation War. In the centre of the city, near the main pedestrian street and the water cascade of the city, is the second site of our route - Art Gallery Donation "Kolektsiya Svetlin Rusev".

The gallery is located in an emblematic for the city building with unusual architecture - the old bathhouse. The built-up area of the building amounts to 900 square meters, and its very unusual architecture is strongly influenced by the Arab. The façade of the building is formed by white and red rows with oriental and Moorish elements. The construction of the bathhouse began in 1905 and is associated with many vicissitudes. There was an indisputable need to build a modern bathhouse in times when citizens did not have water in their homes, but the implementation exceeded the capabilities of the Municipality and the supply of water to the site.
The construction provoked great discussions and became a real challenge for the then mayor Todor Tabakov. Despite all the difficulties, the building was completed in March 1908. The building was used as a public bath until the mid-1970s. Later the building was completely renovated and rebuilt for the needs of an art gallery. The old bath is an architectural monument of culture of national importance.

The initial fund of the Art Gallery Donation "Kolektsiya Svetlin Rusev" was formed after in 1984 Svetlin Rusev donated 322 works to his hometown Pleven - paintings and sculptures from his own collection. Svetlin Rusev is a world-renowned artist, public figure, collector of works of art, academician of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Member of Parliament. The gallery was opened on July 12, 1984. The fund of the gallery was supplemented in 1999, when Prof. Svetlin Rusev donated another 82 graphic works to contemporary Bulgarian masters of drawing and graphics and European masters of the XVIII, XIX and XX centuries. The works are arranged personally by Svetlin Rusev in an order that presents and divides them chronologically and thematically.

In the gallery you can enjoy works by Vladimir Dimitrov - Maystora, watercolors by Iliya Beshkov, works from the early and late period by Zlatyu Boyadzhiev, paintings by Dechko Uzunov, works by the donor of the gallery - Prof. Svetlin Rusev (only 3 in number). A small part of the gallery in the dome is dedicated to Eugene Delacroix, Francisco Goya, Jean-François Millet, Kete Kolwitz, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Picasso, Auguste Rodin, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Among the most valuable exhibits we offer to your attention are:

• " Vanga" (1990), painting by Svetlin Rusev
• "Young Woman" (1943), painting by Dechko Uzunov
• "Before the Storm" (1920), painting by Zlatyu Boyadzhiev
• "Sofia - Winter" (1907), painting by Nikola Petrov
• Icon "St. St. Brothers Kozma and Damyan Bezsrebarnitsi ”17-18 c.