Medni Rid ( bg, Медни рид, meaning ''Copper Ridge''), also known as Bakarlak (Бакърлък) until 1942, is a ridge in south-eastern

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 Macedon ...

. It forms the north-eastern extreme of the Bosna Ridge in the

Strandzha Mountains Strandzha ( bg, Странджа, also transliterated as ''Strandja'', ; tr, Istranca , or ) is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and the European part of Turkey. It is in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of T ...

. Administratively, it lies in the municipalities of

Sozopol Sozopol ( bg, Созопол , el, Σωζόπολη, translit=Sozopoli) is an ancient seaside town located 35 km south of Burgas on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Today it is one of the major seaside resorts in the country, known for the ...

and

Primorsko Primorsko ( bg, Приморско ) is a town and seaside resort in southeastern Bulgaria, capital of homonymous municipality, part of Burgas Province. A well-known resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, it is located 52 km south of Burgas ...

Burgas Province Burgas Province ( bg, Област Бургас, translit=Oblast Burgas, formerly the Burgas okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, including the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. The province is named after its administrative and indus ...

. The main orographic ridge extends from the north-west to the south-east with a maximum length of 18-20 km and width of 3-5 km. The north-western extreme of Medni Rid reaches Cape Chukalya on the southern coast of the

Gulf of Burgas Gulf of Burgas or Burgas Bay ( bg, Бургаски залив, ''Burgaski zaliv'') between the coastline and the straight line joining Cape Emine and Cape Maslen nos is the largest bay of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and one of the largest in th ...

; to the south-east it reaches the valley of the river

Ropotamo The Ropotamo ( bg, Ропотамо , from the Ancient Greek word Ροπόταμος ''ropotamos'' meaning "border river") is a river in south-eastern Bulgaria. It takes its source from the Bosna Ridge in the Strandzha Mountains, running for 48.5 ...

, which separates it from the isolated ridge of Kitka Ridge. To the west, the valleys of the rivers Rosenska (a left tributary of the Ropotamo) and Otmanliy (flowing directly into the Gulf of Bourgas) separate it from the small ridge Rosen Bair. The two ridges are connected via a low saddle near the village of

Rosen Rosen is a surname of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, the name deriving from the German word for roses. Notable people with this surname include: People A–H * Adam Rosen (born 1984), American-born British luger Olympian * Al Rosen (1924–2015), Ameri ...

. To the east, Medni Rid descends to the shores of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. Its highest point, Mount Bakarlaka (376.2 m), rises in the northern section. Medni Rid is composed by

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

and plutonic rocks. In its northern part there are copper ore deposits. The climate is continental with significant Black Sea influence. The ridge is drained by small rivers and streams. The predominant soils are cinnamon forest ones. The ridge and its slopes are overgrown with

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Origin of names The common English name ''hornbeam' ...

and

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

forests. On its eastern and western foothills there are four villages: Atia and Ravadinovo to the east, Rosen and Veselie to the west. The south-eastern part of Medni Rid falls within the territory of the Ropotamo Nature Reserve; its northern part is occupied by the Rosenets recreational forest. A section of the ridge is designated as a protected area named Bakarlaka. About 172 bird species have been discovered in Medni Rid and the ridge has been declared a site of ornithologic importance. It is an important stop for migrating storks and pelicans after they cross the Gulf of Burgas from

Cape Emine Cape Emine ( bg, Нос Емине ) is a headland located at the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is located south of Varna, north of Burgas and south of Obzor. It forms the tip of Stara Planina. Cape Emine is said to be Bulgaria's stormiest cap ...

in the easternmost

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...

. Medni Rid is among the nation's foremost nesting sites for

middle spotted woodpecker The middle spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocoptes medius'') is a European woodpecker belonging to the genus '' Dendrocoptes''. Taxonomy The middle spotted woodpecker was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the ...

olive-tree warbler The olive-tree warbler (''Hippolais olivetorum'') is an Old World warbler in the tree warbler genus '' Hippolais''. It breeds in southeast Europe and the Near East. It is migratory, wintering in eastern and southern Africa, from Kenya south to ...

spotted crake The spotted crake (''Porzana porzana'') is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. The scientific name is derived from Venetian terms for small rails. The spotted crake's breeding habitat is marshes and sedge beds across temperate Europe into ...

and

yelkouan shearwater upright=0.8, Egg of the yelkouan shearwater The yelkouan shearwater, Levantine shearwater or Mediterranean shearwater (''Puffinus yelkouan'') is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It was formerly treated as a subspec ...

. There are significant populations of

barred warbler The barred warbler (''Curruca nisoria'') is a typical warbler which breeds across temperate regions of central and eastern Europe and western and central Asia. This passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical eastern Africa.Del ...

and

ortolan bunting The ortolan (''Emberiza hortulana''), also called ortolan bunting, is a Eurasian bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a passerine family now separated by most modern scholars from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is fro ...

. On all high points of the ridge — from north to south Atia, Bakarlaka, Lobodovo Kale, Malkoto Kale — there are remnants of

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...

fortresses, built of crushed stone. Methodical excavations were conducted only at Malkoto Kale between 1973 and 1977. Copper, as well as some quantities of silver, had been mined since the second millennium BC. The last copper mine "Rosen" was closed down in 1995.

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 = Mountain ranges of Bulgaria Strandzha Landforms of Burgas Province Protected areas of Bulgaria