Lale is a village in

Momchilgrad Municipality Momchilgrad Municipality is a municipality in Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria. The administrative centre is Momchilgrad Momchilgrad ( , , Turkish language, Turkish: Mestanlı) is a town in the very south of Bulgaria, part of Kardzhali Province in ...

Kardzhali Province Kardzhali Province () is a province of southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece with the Greek regional units of Xanthi, Rhodope, and Evros to the south and east. It is 3209.1 km2 in area. Its main city is Kardzhali. It is Bulgaria's sout ...

, southern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. As of 2021, the village reportedly had a population of 190 residents, 96 of which are male, and 94 of which are female.

Honours

Lale Buttress in

Graham Land Graham Land is the portion of the Antarctic Peninsula that lies north of a line joining Cape Jeremy and Cape Agassiz. This description of Graham Land is consistent with the 1964 agreement between the British Antarctic Place-names Committee ...

, Antarctica is named after the village.

Landmarks

The neighboring village of

Raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

features the

Petrified Forest Petrified wood (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of ''fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial plant, terrestrial vegetation. ''Petrifaction ...

, a culturally and historically significant natural site located in a deep valley known as Gabaz Dere by locals. This area has been declared protected and is home to fossilized trees that are around 30 million years old. The forest draws the attention of

biologists A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize in ...

naturalists Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

, and eco-tourists. Nearby, the Borovets Reserve is situated close to Raven and is one of the four reserves in the

Eastern Rhodopes The Rhodopes (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) 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 Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak ...

. Its primary purpose of the reserve is to conserve the natural

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

forest, an area of national importance. The reserve is known for its diverse flora, including

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

wild pear Wild pear may refer to: * European pear, ''Pyrus communis ''Pyrus communis'', the common pear, is a species of pear native plant, native to central and eastern Europe, and western Asia. It is one of the most important fruits of temperate region ...

, and

prickly juniper ''Juniperus oxycedrus'', vernacularly called Cade, cade juniper, prickly juniper, prickly cedar, or sharp cedar, is a species of juniper, native across the Mediterranean region, growing on a variety of rocky sites from sea level. The specific epi ...

. Additionally, the reserve is home to several species listed in Bulgaria's Red Book and

protected Protection is any measure taken to guard something against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although ...

on a European and global level. The archaeological site known as Orpheus' Sanctuary is located about 9 km (5.6 miles) north of Lale, in the Kaya Basha area. Dating back to the late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, the sanctuary was originally built as a shrine to

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

king

Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...

. Recognized both before and after the advent of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, the site was converted into a secular estate after the

4th-century The 4th century was the time period from 301 CE (represented by the Roman numerals CCCI) to 400 CE (CD) in accordance with the Julian calendar. In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine the Great, who became the first ...

introduction of Christianity in the Rhodope Mountains. By the 11th-

12th Twelfth can mean: *The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution *The Twelfth, a Protestant celebration originating in Ireland In mathematics: * 12th, an ordinal number; as in the item in an order twelve places from the beginning, follo ...

centuries, it came under the control of the Byzantine

Palaiologos The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; , ; female version Palaiologina; ), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek Nobility, noble family that rose to power and produced th ...

family. Between the neighboring villages of Neofit Bozvelievo, located 2 km (1.2 miles) to the northeast, and Lale, lies a ritual complex with 11 rock niches spread over two levels. Notably, two of these niches, known as acoustic niches, have unique properties that cause sound to

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

back in a distinct manner.

References

Villages in Kardzhali Province {{Kardzhali-geo-stub