Vitosha ( bg, Витоша ), the ancient ''Scomius'' or ''Scombrus'', is a mountain massif, on the outskirts of

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, the capital of

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 ...

. Vitosha is one of the symbols of Sofia and the closest site for hiking,

alpinism Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, ...

and

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

. Convenient bus lines and rope ways render the mountain easily accessible. Vitosha has the outlines of an enormous dome. The territory of the mountain includes Vitosha

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...

that encompasses the best known and most frequently visited parts. The foothills of Vitosha shelter resort quarters of Sofia; Knyazhevo quarter has

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...

springs. Vitosha is the oldest nature park in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. The mountain emerged as a result of

volcanic activity Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called a ...

and has been subsequently shaped by the slow folding of the granite rock layers and a series of gradual uplifts of the area. It appears dome shaped at first sight, but the mountain, 19 km long by 17 km wide, actually consists of concentric denudational plateaus rising in tiers one above the other. Vitosha is separated into four main parts whose main ridges gather at a crown known as ''

Cherni Vrah Cherni Vrah ( bg, Черни връх , "Black Peak") is the summit of Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria. Rising to 2290 m, the peak is the fourth highest mountain summit in the country after Musala (2925 m, Rila Mountain), Vihren (2914&nbs ...

'' ('Black Peak', Bulgarian: ). This is the highest point of the mountain at 2290 m and is one of 12 peaks of Vitosha over 2000 m in height. It is the highest

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

of Srednogorie mountain chain system, together with Sredna gora, Plana (mountain),

Lyulin Mountain Lyulin () is a range of hills in western Bulgaria, located several kilometres west of Sofia. The highest point is Dupevitsa Peak (1,256 m). The Buchino Pass divides the hills into two, a western and an eastern part. Bonsovi Polyani are a popular t ...

Greben (mountain) Greben (Cyrillic: Гребен, meaning "ridge" or literally "comb") is a mountain in southeastern Serbia, with a small section of the southwestern ridge in Bulgaria. It is named after a large karst ridge that runs along its spine. Greben rises n ...

Viskyar Mountain Viskyar Mountain ( bg, Вискяр) is a minor range of hills in western Bulgaria rising to 1077 m (Mechi Kamak Peak), and bounded by Lyulin Mountain to the southeast, Sofia Valley to the northeast, Zavalska Mountain to the northwest, and ...

, etc. They all are a result of the folding of the earth layers through the Mesozoic, causing also magma sheet-like intrusion (or concordant

pluton In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

) that has been injected between layers of

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

. The laccolithic domed form of Vitosha is a typical example. Bulgaria's longest cave –

Duhlata Duhlata ( bg, Духлата) is a cave situated in Vitosha mountain, western Bulgaria. With a total length of 18,200 m, Duhlata is the longest cave in the country. It was declared a natural monument in 1962. The cave is home to six species ...

, with a total length of 18,200 m, is situated in Vitosha in the

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, Dolomite (rock), dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathe ...

ic region near the village of Bosnek. Since the ancient times of the

Thracians 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 ...

a large population has always existed at the base of Vitosha. For the last four thousand years the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

of this large settlement has always been connected, in one way or another, with the neighboring mountain. The name Vitosha comes from the two-peaked, twin ridge mountain, which rises above the Sofia field and has acquired its present shape in stages over many millennia. A meteorological station was built at the top in 1935, and is still operating. The station also serves as a rest shelter for hikers and is the headquarters for the mountain rescue team. Historical documents show that several centuries ago Vitosha mountain was still covered by the remains of the inaccessible "

Great Bulgarian Forest Great Bulgarian Forest (latin: ''Silva Magna Bulgarica'' or ''Silvas Bulgarorum'') was the territory between Belgrade and the Gate of Trajan, entering Via Militaris in Thrace. In the Middle Ages this territory was afforested with inaccessible fore ...

" (''Magna Silva Bulgarica''). Today, the natural

conifer Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All ext ...

ous forests of Vitosha remain only in the reserve Bistrishko Branishte and around Zlatnite Mostove (The Golden Bridges). The Golden Bridges is a

stone river In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's o ...

consisting of a ribbon of huge boulders running down the mountainside. This scenic spot is located along the

Vladayska River The Vladayska (Владайска река, ''Vladayska reka'') is a river in western Bulgaria, a tributary of the Perlovska. The river flows from the northwestern slopes of Cherni Vrah on Vitosha Mountain, crossing Torfeno Branishte Nature Reser ...

in an area of mixed deciduous and evergreen forest. However, this is only one of the stone rivers found in Vitosha and they were once the moraines of ancient glaciers. Their further formation occurred due to the spherical erosion of the sienite rocks and their gradual movement to down stream valleys by the forces of gravity and moving water. At a time when nature conservation ideas were a long way from the present understanding, some enlightened noblemen took the first step in 1934 by declaring 66 km² of Vitosha a

, hence Vitosha became the first park of this kind in the

. During the following year, some of the early Bulgarian reserves,

Bistrishko Branishte Bistrishko Branishte ( bg, Бистришко бранище) is a nature reserve in the Vitosha Nature Park on Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria. It was established in 1934, together with Vitosha Nature Park. Since 1977 it has been a biosphere r ...

(subsequently expanded to 10.61 km²) and Torfeno Branishte (7.84 km² respectively), were designated within its boundaries. The park boundaries fluctuated over many years and today it encompasses the entire mountain; an area of 266.06 km². It is the highest

of Srednogorie mountain chain system, that includes also the mountains of Sredna gora range, Plana, Lyulin, Greben, Viskyar, etc.

Ecology

Due to a great variability in

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

, a rich diversity of climates,

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is '' flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. ...

can be found within the park. Research has revealed that on the comparatively small area of the mountain there are 1,500 species of higher plants, 500 species of

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately fr ...

, 500 species of

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular micr ...

, 326 species of

mosses Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hornw ...

, and 200 species of

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolo ...

of endangered species. The forests are mainly composed of

Norway spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very close ...

and

Bulgarian fir ''Abies borisii-regis'' (Bulgarian fir) is a species of fir native to the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula in Bulgaria, northern Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania and Serbia. It occurs at altitudes of 800–1,800 m, on mounta ...

, with some Macedonian pine,

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

, and at the tree-line,

mountain pine ''Pinus mugo'', known as bog pine, creeping pine, dwarf mountain pine, mugo pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, or Swiss mountain pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and So ...

, and mixed

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

forest at lower altitudes, mainly

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' cont ...

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (C ...

and

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

. Regarding herbaceous plants, well-established populations of ''

Veratrum album ''Veratrum album'', the false helleborine, white hellebore, European white hellebore, or white veratrum (syn. ''Veratrum lobelianum'' Bernh.) is a poisonous plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to Europe and parts of western Asia (weste ...

'' are present on the mountain, as well as other species commonly called 'lilies'. There are also

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

, such as the East European green-winged orchid (''

Orchis morio ''Anacamptis morio'', the green-winged orchid or green-veined orchid (synonym ''Orchis morio''), is a flowering plant of the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It usually has purple flowers, and is found in Europe and the Middle East. Description It f ...

'') that grows in the higher parts. Lungwort ('' Pulmonaria officinalis'') is another widespread herbaceous plant on Vitosha; it develops in dank sites under the shade of the forest.

Honours

Vitosha Saddle Vitosha Saddle (Vitoshka Sedlovina \'vi-tosh-ka se-dlo-vi-'na\) is a narrow ice-covered saddle of elevation 1050 m extending in southwest–northeast direction between Great Needle Peak (Falsa Aguja Peak) and Vihren Peak in the Levski Ridge of Ta ...

, Rezen Knoll, Komini Peak, and

Kikish Crag Kikish Crag ( bg, връх vrah Kikish, ) is a peak rising to 650 m in Friesland Ridge, Tangra Mountains on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica and is named after Kikish site in Vitosha Mountain, Bulgaria. Location The c ...

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 ...

are named respectively for Mount Vitosha, and for the Vitosha peaks of Malak Rezen and Golyam Rezen, Kominite Peak, and Kikish site. Image:Vitosha and Sveta Nedelya.jpg, Vitosha seen from Sofia Image:View_from_Vitosha_Montain,_Sofia_03375.jpg, East

seen from Vitosha Image:View_from_Vitosha_Mountain_Sofia_03378.jpg, Another view Image:Arbres givrés sur le Vitocha (février 2009).JPG, Snow-covered trees in February, northern side Image:Boyana waterfall.jpg, Boyana waterfall, highest in Vitosha Image:Mountain-1.JPG, View of the Vitosha Mountain from the South Park of Sofia Image:Vitosha seen from the center of Sofia.jpg, Vitosha seen from National Palace of Culture Vitosha is also the name of: * Radio Vitosha *

Vitosha Boulevard Vitosha Boulevard ( bg, булевард „Витоша“, often called just , Vitoshka) is the main commercial street in the centre of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, which is abundant in posh stores, restaurants and bars. It extends from the ...

- a popular main street in Sofia; with shops, boutiques and restaurants.

References

External links

Photo Gallery

Mountain Vitosha Gallery

Nature Park Vitosha Web Site

Mountain & Ski resort Vitosha - info, hotels, properties

Hiking in Vitosha Mountains

History of the park, travelling information, photographs

Vast Image Gallery of Vitosha
{{Authority control Mountain ranges of Bulgaria Landforms of Sofia City Province Nature parks in Bulgaria Geography of Sofia City Province Ski areas and resorts in Bulgaria Tourist attractions in Sofia Parks in Sofia Extinct volcanoes Geology of Bulgaria

Ecology

Honours

See also

References

External links