The Belogradchik Rocks ( bg, Белоградчишки скали, ''Belogradchishki skali'') are a group of strangely shaped
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
and
conglomerate rock formations located on the western slopes of the
Balkan Mountains (''Stara Planina'') near the town of
Belogradchik
Belogradchik ( bg, Белоградчик ) is a town in Vidin Province, Northwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of the homonymous Belogradchik Municipality. The town, whose name literally means "small white town," is situated in the fo ...
in northwest
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
. The rocks vary in color from primarily red to yellow; some of the rocks reach up to 200 m in height. Many rocks have fantastic shapes and are associated with interesting legends. They are often named after people or objects they are thought to resemble. The Belogradchik Rocks have been declared a Natural Landmark by the Bulgarian government and are a major tourist attraction in the region. They are the only habitat of the critically endangered Bulgarian endemic plant ''
Hieracium belogradcense''.
Geography
The Belogradchik Rocks are spread over the western part of the Balkan Mountains and cover an area of . They extend from the village of
Rabisha
Rabisha ( bg, Рабиша ) is a village in north-western Bulgaria, in Vidin Province and Belogradchik municipality.
Geography
Rabisha village is located 45 kilometers from Vidin and 20 km from Belogradchik. It is also located on Archa ...
in the west to the village of
Belotintsi in the east.
The central group of rocks is situated just to the south and adjacent to the town of Belogradchik. Located here are several notable formations: Adam and Eve, the Mushrooms, the Schoolgirl, the Bear, the Dervish, the Shepherd Boy, the Lion, the Camel, the Madonna, the Horseman, the Monks, the goddess Bendida, the Rebel Velko, and many other stone figures.
The second group of rocks lies to the west of Belogradchik. The rocks are of the Alpine variety and are surrounded by steep precipices. The most famous of these rocks are Zbegovete, Erqupriya, and Boritch.
The third group of rocks lies . to the east of Belogradchik and includes the rocks around the Latin Gate and the Lipenik Cave.
The fourth group of rocks lies between the villages of
Borovitsa and Falkovets. These rocks include the Pine Stone, the Bee Stone, the Torlak, and the Maid's Rock.
The fifth group of rocks lies between the villages of Gyurgich and Belotintsi.
Geology
Many rock figures and small valleys with steep vertical slopes have formed over hundreds of millions of years as a result of the natural processes of
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...
,
denudation
Denudation is the geological processes in which moving water, ice, wind, and waves erode the Earth's surface, leading to a reduction in elevation and in relief of landforms and landscapes. Although the terms erosion and denudation are used interc ...
, growth of mosses and lichens, and other natural factors.
The formation of the Belogradchik Rocks started during the
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last ...
period, about 230 million years ago, when the tectonic cycle was folding to create the Balkan Mountains and elevating the region of Belogradchik.
Later, during the
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...
period, the region became the floor of a shallow sea. At the same time, the destruction of the earlier
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon.
The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838
by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...
rocks formed enormous quantities of gravel, sand and clay, which were deposited by the rivers into the sea basin. The sediment piled up and gradually became thicker layers of conglomerates and sandstone, with the conglomerate pieces becoming well rounded over time by the forces of water.
During the
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...
period, over a period of 20 million years, the layered materials became firmly glued together by sand-clay solder or
silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ta ...
. The hot and dry climate formed a great amount of
iron oxide, or
hematite, which gave the rocks their rusty red color. When the
earth's crust started to settle, lighter and smaller sandstones merged with the red conglomerates.
At the beginning of the
Cenozoic era
An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth.
Comp ...
and the early Alpine tectonic cycle, large anticlines, or folds were being formed in the Balkan Mountains, and during this time the region turned to dry land. About 45 million years ago, the rising of the Belogradchik
anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is the ...
began, and during this folding, the limestone and the conglomerates in the core cracked, creating vertical and horizontal rifts in the ridge of the anticline. In the core of the Belogradchik anticline, Paleozoic rocks are found and the slopes are formed of conglomerates, sandstone, and Jurassic limestone.
The vertical penetration and surface rivers favored vertical erosion of the rock layers, and the rifts, where tectonic movements occurred, were transformed by the erosion in small valleys and passes with vertical or steep slopes forming separate vertical blocks seen today as the rock figures.
Tourism
The Belogradchik Rocks are a major tourist destination in northwest Bulgaria, along with the town of
Belogradchik
Belogradchik ( bg, Белоградчик ) is a town in Vidin Province, Northwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of the homonymous Belogradchik Municipality. The town, whose name literally means "small white town," is situated in the fo ...
and the
Belogradchik Fortress
The Belogradchik Fortress ( bg, Белоградчишка крепост, ''Belogradchishka krepost''), also known as Kaleto (Калето, "the fortress" from Turkish ''kale''), is an ancient fortress located on the north slopes of the Balkan M ...
, which incorporates the rocks as part of its natural defense, and the nearby
Magura Cave
The Magura Cave (Bulgarian "пещера Магура") is located in north-western Bulgaria close to the village of Rabisha, from the town of Belogradchik in Vidin Province.
The prehistoric wall paintings of Magura have great resemblance with t ...
, situated near the village of Rabisha. Another tourist attraction in the area is the
Baba Vida
Baba Vida ( bg, Баба Вида) is a medieval castle in Vidin in northwestern Bulgaria and the town's primary landmark. It consists of two concentric curtain walls and about nine towers of which three are preserved to their full medieval heig ...
medieval fortress in the nearby town of
Vidin
Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as ...
on the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
river.
The Bulgarian Committee of the Natural Environment declared the rocks as a natural monument in 1949, and the rocks were listed in the Bulgarian National Register of Natural Landmarks in 1987.
In 1984, the Belogradchik Rocks and the Magura Cave were both placed on the Tentative List of places to be named to the
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
list. The Rocks are under consideration as a
Geopark
A geopark is a protected area with internationally significant geology within which sustainable development is sought and which includes tourism, conservation, education and research concerning not just geology but other relevant sciences.
In 2 ...
in the
European Geoparks Network
The European Geoparks Network (EGN) functions as the regional organization of the Global Geoparks Network (GGN) and the UNESCO International Geosciences and Geoparks Programme (UNESCO-IGGP). Its main objective is to ensure cooperation between geop ...
and the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network.
In September 2008, Belogradchik was named as one of twenty finalists by the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
as a “European Destination of Excellence.” In January 2009, the Belogradchik Rocks were named as Bulgaria’s nomination in the campaign for the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
Legends
* The Madonna – Once there were a monastery and nunnery amongst the Belogradchik Rocks. There lived a beautiful nun, who was secretly envied by all for her beauty. More than once, the old Mother Superior reminded the nun not to forget that even though she was young and pretty, that she had taken the veil and was vowed to God. During the Petrovden celebration, a young patrician came to the festival on his white horse. Immediately, when she saw him, the nun recognized the man of her dreams. She could not resist her heartache and secretly met him, but the nun's illicit love was eventually discovered by the cries of her young child. The Mother Superior decided to severely punish the nun by all monastic canons, and even the monks from the monastery were summoned to pass judgment on her. It took a long time for the white bearded monks to draw a punishment, but at last they decided to expel her and her child out of the priory. The poor nun was doomed to a life worse than death itself. Ordinary people would treat her like a leper, and no one would dare talk to her, let alone give her shelter or food. The nun was ready to have her life taken rather than be chased out of the nunnery. As heartbreaking as her sincere plea for mercy was, it did not move the monks. As the nun was exiting the monastic gates, a miracle happened. The day became night and a frightening thunder was heard. The rocks opened up and the monastery and nunnery were both driven into the ground, and the Monks, on their retreat back to the cloister, the Madonna, bending over her child, and the Horseman, riding to his beloved on his white horse, were all turned to stone.
* The Schoolgirl – Once there lived a schoolgirl in town, a student in the hunchback dervish's school, known for her raving beauty. The schoolgirl fell in love with a young hammersmith, and they used to meet each other near Subashin's spring, known for its delicious water. But the dervish was extremely envious of this pure love. One day, he waited for the schoolgirl near the spring when she was going for some water, and attacked her. She somehow managed to wrestle out of his hands and started running to the rocks, hoping to escape the fiend. She was running for a long time between the rocks and crags, but the dervish mercilessly pursued her. Suddenly a rapacious bear came in front of the schoolgirl. Shocked by fear and amazement, she fell to her knees. She would rather have been torn apart and eaten by the bear than to be ravished in the arms of the hateful dervish. At this moment, a miracle occurred. A loud thunder was heard and the day became night, and into the darkness, a scared cry of a girl, the frightening roar of a bear, and the terrified cry of a man rang out. Then a sinister silence fell around. And when it became light again, they all stood in stone – the Schoolgirl, the Bear in front of her, and the despicable Dervish behind her. And the sun was shining bright and peaceful as if nothing had happened.
[Belogradchik Rocks, Sun, Legends, and More]
References
External links
Belogradchik RocksImages of Belogradchik RocksA page about the Belogradchik RocksVirtual Tour of the Belogradchik Rocks and the FortressBelogradchik Rocks Featured on Commemorative Coin
{{Authority control
Rock formations of Bulgaria
Landforms of Vidin Province
Balkan mountains
Tourist attractions in Vidin Province
Belogradchik Municipality