Located in the western Balkan Mountains, it is known as the home village of Ivan Vazov's heroine Baba Iliytsa from the tale One Bulgarian Woman.
The first group of tourists to climb the peak involved 300 people, among them the contemporary doyen of Bulgarian literature Ivan Vazov, and was led by another famous Bulgarian writer, Aleko Konstantinov.
Hranislav is briefly referenced in national writer Ivan Vazov's 1907 novel Svetoslav Terter.
The village contains a monument representing Ivan Vazov's character 'Grandfather Yotso', a symbol of liberation from the Ottoman Empire and the progress of independent Bulgaria.
It was also the place where the famous general and mayor of Sofia Vladimir Vazov (brother of national writer Ivan Vazov) spent the last years of his life; he died there on 20 May 1945.
It was mapped by the Bulgarian expedition Tangra 2004/05, who named it for the Bulgarian poet and playwright Ivan Vazov.
In 1934 the village was renamed Vazovo, after the Bulgarian writer Ivan Vazov.
Ivan Turgenev | Ivan Caryll | Ivan Lendl | Ivan Vazov | Ivan the Terrible | Ivan Shapovalov | Iván Rodríguez | Ivan Reitman | Ivan Pavlov | Ivan Lins | Hurricane Ivan | Ivan Krylov | Ivan Franko | Ivan Tors | Ivan Basso | Ivan Vladislavic | Ivan Neville | Ivan Meštrović | Ivan Varichev | Ivan Sergei | Ivan Panfilov | Ivan Kostov | Ivan Galamian | Iván Campo | Vladimir Vazov | Ivan Stang | Ivan's Childhood | Ivan Rybkin | Ivan Pregelj | Ivan Paskevich |
He is also known for the numerous roles on the stage, most notably as Kovadzhik in The Pig tails by Jaroslav Dietl, Shtatala in Tarelkin' death by Aleksandr Sukhovo-Kobylin, Mr. Fratyu in Uncles by Ivan Vazov and Orgon in Tartuffe by Molière.
Mrkvička came to Plovdiv in 1881 after an invitation by the then-Eastern Rumelian government and worked as a teacher in the Cyril and Methodius high school, where he co-operated with the most important cultural figures in the city — Ivan Vazov, Konstantin Velichkov, Petko Karavelov, Petko Slaveykov.
The collection compiled by the Miladinov brothers also played a great role in the development of the modern Bulgarian literature, because its songs as poetic models for the outstanding Bulgarian poets - Ivan Vazov, Pencho Slaveikov, Kiril Hristov, Peyo Yavorov, etc.
Neighbourhoods located along or near Bulgaria Boulevard, listed in a north to south order, include Ivan Vazov, Hipodruma, Belite brezi, Strelbishte, Krasno selo, Motopista, Borovo, Buxton, Gotse Delchev, Bokar, Manastirski Livadi and Boyana.