The Razlog Valley ( bg, Разложка котловина, Razlozhka kotlovina) is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

in 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 ...

Blagoevgrad Province Blagoevgrad Province ( bg, област Благоевград, ''oblast Blagoevgrad'' or Благоевградска област, ''Blagoevgradska oblast''), also known as Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia ( bg, Пиринска Маке� ...

, the municipalities of

Razlog Razlog ( bg, Разлог ) is a town and ski resort in Razlog Municipality, Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria. It is situated in the Razlog Valley and was first mentioned during the reign of Byzantine emperor Basil II. The municipali ...

Bansko Bansko ( bg, Банско ) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of the Pirin, Pirin Mountains at an elevation of 1200m AMSL, above sea level. It is a ski resort. Legends There are several legends about who founded Bansko. Ac ...

and Belitsa. It is located between the mountains 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 ...

to the north and northwest,

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 ...

to the south and southwest, and the

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...

to the east. The transitional continental mediterranean climate and nature of the valley are influenced by both the high

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

mountain “walls” of Rila and Pirin and the vast and wild Rhodopes, and the warm

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

of the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

entering from the south via the

Mesta The ''Mesta'' () was a powerful association protecting livestock owners and their animals in the Crown of Castile that was incorporated in the 13th century and was dissolved in 1836. Although best known for its organisation of the annual migrat ...

river course. It is home to

, a renowned winter resort center and one of the top tourist destinations in Bulgaria. Another popular ski center is

Semkovo Semkovo ( bg, Семково) is a ski resort in the Rila Mountains of Bulgaria. It is located at 1750 metres above sea level, and is located 14 kilometres from the town of Belitsa. ReferencesBulgariaski.com
{{coord, 42, 2, 38, N, 23, 32, ...

. The valley is a

syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimpose ...

representing a

structural A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such a ...

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...

basin with an average altitude of the valley bottom of more than 800 m. The highest

mountain ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

s surrounding the valley reach almost 3000 m, and are rich in

glacial landform Glacial landforms are landforms created by the action of glaciers. Most of today's glacial landforms were created by the movement of large ice sheets during the Quaternary glaciations. Some areas, like Fennoscandia and the southern Andes, have ...

s. In its northeastern part, between Rila and the Rhodopes, is located the Belishko field, which is part of the valley. Within these limits from west-northwest to east-southeast, its length reaches 21 km and its average width is 12 km. There are 4 towns - Bansko, Belitsa,

Dobrinishte Dobrinishte ( bg, Добринище ) is a small town and ski resort in the Blagoevgrad Province, Bansko Municipality, southwestern Bulgaria. it has 2973 inhabitants. It is located 6 km east of Bansko, a famous winter resort. It has an al ...

and

, and many villages in the area, some of them being

Banya Banya may refer to: Places Australia * Banya, Queensland, a locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia Bulgaria *Banya, Blagoevgrad Province, a thermal spa and mountain resort in southwest Bulgaria *Banya, Burgas Prov ...

, Bachevo,

Dobarsko Dobarsko ( bg, Добърско ) is a village in southwestern Bulgaria, part of Razlog Municipality, Blagoevgrad Province. It is set at 1,070 m above sea level on the southern slopes of Rila with the westernmost Rhodope Mountains to the east a ...

, Godlevo, Gorno Draglishte, Dolno Draglishte, Eleshnitsa, Kraishte, Gorno Kraishte. The town of

was named after the region in 1923 and previously was known as ''Mehomiya''. The Razlog Valley is abundant in water resources, including many tributaries of the

Mesta River Nestos ( ), Mesta ( ), or formerly the Mesta Karasu in Turkish (Karasu meaning "black river"), is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. It rises in the Rila Mountains and flows into the Aegean Sea near the island of Thasos. It plunges down towering c ...

, as well as

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

in the villages of Banya, Bachevo and Eleshnitsa and the Razhdavets and Katarino areas, with the temperature of some of the springs reaching 60 °C and the discharge 70-80 litres per second.http://visitrazlog.com/en/

References

External links

Razlog Valley — Dedicated discussion forum
Valleys of Bulgaria Landforms of Blagoevgrad Province {{Blagoevgrad-geo-stub