Marichini Lakes () are a group of four glacial lakes situated in the eastern part of

Rila Rila (, ) is the highest mountain range of Bulgaria, the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, and Southeast Europe. It is situated in southwestern Bulgaria and forms part of the Rila–Rhodope Mountains, Rhodope Massif. The highest summit is Musala at an e ...

mountain range of southwestern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

at an altitude between 2,301 m and 2,508 m. They are situated in the Marichin cirque between the summits of Blizantsite (2,779 m) to the west,

Marishki Chal Marishki Chal () is a summit in the eastern part of the Rila, Rila mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria reaching height of 2,765 m. It is located in Rila National Park. The summit is built up of granite. Geography Marishki Chal connect ...

(2,765 m) to the south and Mancho (2,771 m) to the southeast. They are the source of the Tiha Maritsa, one of the two

main stem In hydrology, a main stem or mainstem (also known as a trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". The mainstem extends all the way from one specific headwater to the outlet of the river, although t ...

s of one of the longest rivers in the Balkans, the

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( ), also known as Evros ( ) and Meriç ( ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,

. Two of the lakes are permanent; the other two dry up in summer. The ''first lake'' is the highest, situated at an altitude of 2,508 m in a small cirque in the northern foothills of Marishki Chal. It is of variable area and dries up in summer. The ''second lake'' is located at 300 m to the northeast of the first one at an altitude of 2,374 m. It is the largest and deepest in the group with an area of 2.2 ha, length of 240 m, width of 140 m and depth of 11 m. In its south corner flows a small stream from the first lake and from its north corner flows the Tiha Maritsa. The ''third lake'' is located at 130 m to the north of the second at an altitude of 2,367 m. Its shape is roughly triangular; it has an area of 1.1 ha and depth of 5 m. The Tiha Maritsa flows in from the south and flows out to the north. The ''fourth lake'' is situated at 800 m from the third at an altitude of 2,301 m; it dries up in summer. The area around the lakes falls in the alpine zone of the mountain range with glacial landforms and alpine climate. The vegetation consists mainly of scrubs and meadows, with smaller area of coniferous forests; there are rare and endemic species, including significant populations of Rila primrose ('' Primula deorum'') which is restricted to Rila. The area around the lakes is inhabited by

chamois The chamois (; ) (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope native to the mountains in Southern Europe, from the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines, the Dinarides, the Tatra Mountains, Tatra to the Carpa ...

and

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

s. To protect the habitats and the wildlife, the Marichini Lakes Reserve was declared in 1951 with a total area of 1,500 ha. In 1992, it was absorbed in the larger Central Rila Reserve.

Citations

References

* {{cite book , ref={{harvid, Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria, 1980 , title = Географски речник на България , trans-title = Geographic Dictionary of Bulgaria , last1 = Мичев (Michev) , first1 = Николай (Nikolay) , last2 = Михайлов (Mihaylov) , first2 = Цветко (Tsvetko) , last3 = Вапцаров (Vaptsarov) , first3 = Иван (Ivan) , last4 = Кираджиев (Kiradzhiev) , first4 = Светлин (Svetlin) , chapter = , year = 1980 , language = Bulgarian , publisher = Наука и култура (Nauka i kultura) , location = София (Sofia) , isbn = Tourist attractions in Sofia Province Landforms of Sofia Province Samokov Municipality Lakes of the Rila Lake groups of Bulgaria