Travel Challenge # 6: Belogradchik Rocks, Bulgaria

Hay everyone. I want to share with you my journey to one of the many beautiful places in my country Bulgaria. There are so many natural attractions here, that I can not walk around as hard as I can. But I will still try to show you some of them in this and next posts.

More than 200 million years were needed to make the wonderful forms of the Belogradchik Rocks. Their red color is due to the iron joints in them. The most interesting formations are in the central part - the Rider, the Madonna, the Dervish, the Monster, the Schoolgirl, Adam and Eve, Hajdut Velko, the Cuckoo and others. Their names derive from their great resemblance to humans, animals or objects. Many are also related to legends.
One of them states that many centuries ago, among the rocks, there was a virgin monastery, in which she served God the incredibly beautiful nun Wittinia. The noise of her non-terrestrial beauty spread throughout the Roman Empire. One day in front of the gates of the monastery appeared the Roman Antonio. They fell in love foolishly and for a long time hid their love. But after a year, children's weeping proclaimed the cells of the monastery, and Sister Vitina was facing a strict court. The nuns decided to curse and drive her out with the child. At that time Antonius was on the hill, and he begged to leave his beloved. At that moment, a storm came up over the rocks, and the monastery collapsed, and all around it was the Horseman, the Monks, and Bithynia, who became Madonna with the child in her arms.

This natural phenomenon is located near the town of Belogradchik. The rocks extend 30 km. Length and 3 km. Width. From west to east they unfold from Vedadnik ridge and reach the village of Belotintsi. They occupy an area of ​​50 m2 in the Balkan Mountains. They are yellow-red stone sculptures that rise up to 200 meters in height. Time has blown them in strange forms, and human fantasy has given them interesting names. To this day, legends are made that make the place an attractive tourist center embraced in beauty and mysticism. It is claimed that it took millions of years for nature to create these rock formations, which were the bottom of the sea. Let's look at how exactly this happened.

At the end of the Paleozoic era, due to the erosion of the tectonic period, the earth mass around Belogradchik was a high-rise land. Significantly later in the Triassic period, this place formed a sea bottom. Under the influence of external forces the earth's crust began to flatter and sink. In all the water basins, gravel, sand, clay were deposited, which over time collapsed and formed majestic and huge conglomerates. Under the influence of the water they acquired a rounded and smooth appearance. The specific reddish color of the rocks was acquired thanks to iron oxides and hydroxides. Over time, during the Jurassic period, limestone accumulated on sandstone. As a result of textual movements, the area remained on land, the relief turned out, and as a result the limestone underwent changes and led to the cracking of the conglomerates. Following the erosion of the tall parts, the limestone under the influence of the varying climatic conditions broke down, and the cracked kanglomerates were revealed under them. Over 100 caves and rocks with marvelous shapes have been formed.

Among the rocks of Belogradchik you can see one of the most preserved castles in Bulgaria called Kaleto. It is a cultural monument of national importance and is part of the hundred national sites. It extends to 10 210 m2. It was built before the foundation of Bulgaria, when our lands were part of the Roman Empire. When it was built, natural huge rocks with a height of more than 70 meters were used. In fact, only two walls were built from the northwest and southeast sides. They are 12 meters high with a base thickness of 2.5 meters. Clearly outlined are three fortification yards separated from each other by massive gates engraved with iron. At first, the fortress was used only for observation, but then acquired a defensive function.

Thanks for reading, you can follow me here for more articles: @nakedchef89