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

Rila Rila ( bg, Рила, ) 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 Mus ...

mountain range of southwestern

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 ...

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 (2,765 m) to the south and

Mancho Mancho ( bg, Манчо) is a summit in the eastern part of the Rila, Rila Mountain in southwestern Bulgaria reaching height of 2,771 m. It is a granite bifurcated peak, with the higher section located to the southwest and the lower one to th ...

(2,771 m) to the southeast. The are the source of the Tiha Maritsa, one of the two

main stem In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...

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

Maritsa Maritsa or Maritza ( bg, Марица ), also known as Meriç ( tr, Meriç ) and Evros ( ell, Έβρος ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of , 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 trianguler; 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 goat-antelope native to mountains in Europe, from west to east, including the Alps, the Dinarides, the Tatra and the Carpathian Mountains, the Balkan Mountains, the Ril ...

and

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...

s. To protect the habitats and the wildlife, the Marichini Lakes Reserve was declared in 1951 with a total area of 1500 ha. In 1992, it was absorbed in the larger

Central Rila Reserve Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

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