Ograzhden (, pronounced ) in Bulgarian and in Macedonian) is a mountain range shared by 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 Macedo ...

and southeastern

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. The highest peak of the mountain is located in North Macedonia, Ograzhdenets () at 1,744 m, while the highest in Bulgaria is Bilska Chuka () at 1,644 m.

Geography

Ograzhden is part of the Belasitsa-

Osogovo Osogovo ( Bulgarian/Macedonian: ), or Osogovska Planina or Osogovski Planini (Осоговска Планина or Осоговски Планини), is a mountain range and ski resort between the south-western part of Bulgaria (Kyustendil Provi ...

mountain group. To the north the valley of the river Lebnitsa (right tributary of the Struma) separates it from the Maleshevo Mountain; and to the southwest, south and southeast its slopes descend steeply to the Strumitsa and

Sandanski–Petrich Valley Sandanski–Petrich Valley ( bg, Санданско-Петричка котловина, Sandansko-Petrichka kotlovina) is situated in southwestern Bulgaria along the river Struma and its right tributary Strumeshnitsa, with a very small part of ...

s, north of the Belasitsa mountain range. To the west the valley of the river Turia (left tributary of Strumeshnitsa) separates it from Dragolevska Mountain. East of the Struma river lies the

Pirin , photo=Pirin-mountains-Bansko.jpg , photo_caption=Pirin scenery in winter , country= Bulgaria, , parent= , geology= granite, gneiss, marble, limestone , area_km2=2585 , range_coordinates = , length_km=80 , length_orientation= north-s ...

mountain range. The main ridge of Ograzhden stretches from west to east for about 50 km, and its width reaches 17 km. The main mountain ridge is wide and flat with an average altitude of 1200 m and is stemmed by a number of secondary ridges. The highest summit of the mountain is Ograzhdenets at 1744 m, located in North Macedonia, about 3 km west of the border. In the Bulgarian part the highest peak is Bilska Chuka 1644 m, about 2 km north of the village of Baskaltsi. To the east-southeast of the summit rises the peak Markovi Kladentsi (1523 m) with a panoramic view in all directions. Other summits include: Golak (1639 m), Muratov Vrah (1398 m) and Kukovski Chukar (1233 m). Ograzhden is formed by broken

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...

s —

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...

and various types of

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...

s, which are easily susceptible to weathering and erosion. At its southern foothills there are deluvial deposits with a thickness of 10—20 m.

Climate and water

The climate of the mountain is transitional Mediterranean. Its whole territory falls into the catchment area of the river Struma. The northern slopes are drained by small and short right tributaries of the river Lebnitsa; the eastern by streams flowing directly into the Struma; and southern and western are drained by left tributaries of the river Strumeshnitsa.

Trivia

Ograzhden Cove in

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

in the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

is named after Ograzhden Mountain.

Gallery

File:Ograzden IMG 4585.jpg, View of Ograzhden from Belasitsa, Bulgaria File:Gega-Panoramic-View.jpg, Village of Gega, Bulgaria in Ograzhden File:Ograzden IMG 4631.jpg, Churilovo Monastery in Ograzhden, Bulgaria File:Markovi kladentsi IMG 2484.jpg, Markovi Kladentsi peak, Bulgaria

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 = Rhodope mountain range Mountains of Bulgaria Mountains of North Macedonia Landforms of Blagoevgrad Province International mountains of Europe Bulgaria–North Macedonia border