Bulgarian Mountains
It can safely be asserted that Bulgaria is a mountainous country. Approximately half of its territory is occupied by mountainous formations various in their area, height, nature and origin. All of them are a ring of the powerful range of the Alpine - Himalayan Massif comprising a multitude of mountainous systems on the two continents - Europe and Asia.
Bulgarian Mountains
The mountains in Bulgaria are extremely diverse in kind. If they lack something, it is solely the “cosmic” altitudes and the everlasting snow and ice. Small and big, barren and forested, rounded and steep, low and high, rocky and openly Alpine all of them are accessible during the four seasons of the year and they provide for limitless opportunities for recreation, sports and tourism.Geographical science indicates the existence of 37 mountains on the territory of Bulgaria, 36 of them situated in the southern part of the country and the mountain range of Stara Planina is the border between Northern and Southern Bulgaria. It is namely the mountain range of Stara Planina, the longest and the biggest in area, known as the Balkan Mountains, too, which gave the name to our Balkan Peninsula. The second longest mountain range in our country is spread in parallel to it, to the south - Sredna Gora. These two mountains, except their magnificent natural endowments, are closely related to the history of our people as well. The most impressive mountainous system, however, is the Rila-Rhodope Massif, including Rila, Pirin, the Rhodopes, Slavianka and Sturgach.
Rila is the sixth highest mountain in Europe and the highest mountain on the Balkan Peninsula (Mt. Moussala 2925 m). Pirin is the most beautiful and Alpine-like Bulgarian mountain. The Rhodope Mountains, the larger part of which are on Bulgarian territory (a smaller part is in Greece), are the second in area and one of the most interesting of our mountains in relation to flora and fauna, the architecture of the settlements and the cultural traditions of the population. Slavianka and Sturgach are border Greek mountains. Slavianka is a very interesting tourist site famous for its fields of Pirin tea.
Two lower mountains are situated to the east of the Rila-Rhodope Massif - Sakar and Strandzha. Strandzha is closely related to the struggles of Bulgarian people for liberation from Ottoman Rule.
Another mountain system is the Plana-Zaval Group, including 5 mountains in it - Zavalska, Viskiar, Liulin, Vitosha and Plana, situated in a line, to the south-east of the border with Serbia. The highest, biggest and most famous of them is the Vitosha Mountain. Located in the immediate proximity to the south of the capital city, it is the most visited mountain. The organised hiking movement in Bulgaria was commenced on the principal mount of this range - Mt. Cherni Vruh (2290 m). On 27th August 1895 at the appeal of the great Bulgarian writer and democrat Aleko Konstantinov, 300 citizens of Sofia climbed it on foot from Sofia-city - quite incredible for the time!
The Verila-Rui group comprises 7 comparatively low mountains, located between the border with Serbia and the Rila Mountain. These are Rui (bordering with Serbia and the highest in the group - 1706 m), Ezdimir, Strazha, Liubash, Cherna Gora, Golo Burdo and Verila. In spite of their low altitude above sea level and their small area, each of these mountains is interesting in itself. The Ostritsa Reserve, for instance, is situated in Golo Burdo and it is extremely rich in endemic vegetation kinds.
The mountainous system of Kraishte has 11 individual mountain formations. Like in the Verila-Rui group, the mountains here are small in area and comparatively low. The highest of these mountains are those bordering with Serbia - Milev and Kurvav Kamuk, 1733 m and 1737 m respectively.
The Osogovo-Belasitsa mountainous group is situated in the south-west corner of Bulgaria. Osogovo and Belasitsa Mountains are over 2000 metres high, and Vlahina and Malashevska Mountain, follow them closely in altitude. The fifth mountain within this group is Ograzhden. Four of the mountains are on the Bulgarian-Macedonian border, and Belasitsa is situated on the territories of 3 states - Bulgaria, Greece and Macedonia. Mt. Tumba (1881 m), is a knot between the three neighbouring Balkan countries.
Of all the 37 small and big mountains, 8 exceed the altitude of 2000 metres: Rila (Mt. Moussala - 2925 m), Pirin (Mt. Vihren - 2914 m), Stara Planina (Mt. Botev - 2376 m), Vitosha (Mt. Cherni Vruh - 2290 m), Osogovo Mountain (Mt. Ruen - 2252 m), Slavianka (Mt. Gotsev Vruh - 2212 m), the Rhodopes (Mt. Golyam Perelik - 2191 m) and Belasitsa (Mt. Radomir - 2029 m). All of them are subject to tourist and sports related activities and the Rhodopes are quite densely populated as well.The high-mountain lakes add to about 400 in number and they are scattered around cirques of the Rila and Pirin Mountains and one - in Stara Planina. There are a lot more natural lakes of other origin, mainly around the Rhodopes and fewer around Stara Planina. This is a priceless wealth of Bulgarian nature, which shall henceforward attract and charm thousands of fans.
The unique mountainous nature of Bulgaria is increasingly becoming a foremost concern for the state in view of its preservation for the present and the future generations. Dozens of biosphere reserves have been established and huge territories of Pirin, Rila and Stara Planina were declared National Parks. The Pirin National Park was included in the UNESCO list of protected territories and natural sites, representing super-national, universal values.
