Balkan Mountains

Balkan Mountains range is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea. The highest peaks of the Stara planina are in central Bulgaria. The highest peak is Botev which is 2,376m located in the Central Balkan National Park. The mountain gives the name of the Balkan Peninsula. Stara Planina played an enormous role in the History of Bulgaria and the development of the Bulgarian nation and people.


In earlier times the mountains were known as the Haemus Mons. Scholars consider that Haemus is derived from an unattested Thracian word saimon, meaning mountain range. Other names used to refer to the mountains in different time periods include Aemon, Haemimons, Hem, Emus, the Slavonic Matorni gori, the Turkish Kodzhabalkan and Balkan. The term Balkan however is Persian in its origin brought into southeastern Europe by the Turkic peoples from Central Asia. In places like Turkmenistan and the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea one still encounters this name, such as the Balkan Peninsula and the Balkan Province in Turkmenistan.

Stara Planina is remarkable for its flora and fauna. Edelweiss grows there in the region of Kozyata stena. Some of the most striking landscapes are included in the Central Balkan National Park with steep cliffs, the highest waterfalls in the Balkan peninsula and lush vegetation. There are a number of important nature reserves such as Chuprene, Kozyata stena and others. Most of Europe's large mammals inhabit the area including the brown bear, wolf, boar, chamois, deer.

In geological term Stara Planina is a young mountain. It is part of the Alp-Himalayan chain which stretches across most of Europe and Asia. It can be divided into two parts: the main Balkan Chain and the Pre- Balkan which follows the main chain to the north. To the north the Pre Balkan slightly goes into the Danubian Plain, while to the south the mountain borders with the Sub-Balkan valleys a row of 11 valleys running from the border with Serbia to the west to the Black Sea to the east which separate the Balkan mountains from a chain of other mountains known as Srednogorie which include Vitosha and Sredna Gora.

The range consists of around 30 portions called mountains. Stara Planina can be divided into three sections. They are Western Stara Planina from Vrashka Chuka at the border with Serbia to the Pass of Arabakonak with a total length of 190 km and highest peak Midzhur is 2,169 m, Central Stara Planina from Arabakonak to the Vratnik Pass with a length of 207 km. Botev Peak which is 2,376 m the highest in the range is located in that section and Eastern Stara Planina from the Vratnik Pass to Cape Emine with a length of 160 km and highest peak Balgarka is 1181 m. Eastern Stara Planina forms the lowest part of the range.

Stara Planina forms a water divide between the rivers flowing to Danube in north and those flowing to Aegean Sea in south. It is crossed by Bulgaria widest river Iskar which forms the spectacular Iskar Gorge. Rivers which take their source from Stara Planina and flow northwards to the Danube include Timok, Archar, Lom, Tsibritsa, Ogosta, Skat, Vit, Osam, Yantra, Rusenski Lom. It is also the source of the Kamchia which directly flows in the Black Sea. Although not so abundant in mineral waters as other parts of Bulgaria, there are several spas such as Varshets, Shipkovo and Voneshta Voda. There are a number of waterfalls, especially in the western and central parts of the range such as Raysko Praskalo which is the highest waterfall in the Balkan Peninsula, Borov Kamak, Babsko Praskalo, Etropole Waterfall, Karlovsko Praskalo, Skaklya and others.

Stara Planina has a significant and special place in the history of Bulgaria since its foundation in 681. It was a natural fortress of Bulgarian Empire for centuries and formed an effective barrier to Moesia where most of the Medieval capitals were located. The Balkan Mountains were the site of numerous battles between Bulgarian and the Byzantine Empires including the Battle of the Rishki Pass in 759, Battle of the Varbitsa Pass in 811, Battle of Tryavna in 1190 and many others. In the battle of the Varbitsa Pass Khan Krum decisively defeated an enormous Byzantine army killing Emperor Nikephoros I. For many centuries the Byzantines feared that mountain and on several occasions Byzantine armies had pulled back only on the news of approaching Stara Planina.

During the Ottoman rule many haiduks found refuge in Stara Planina. Close to the highest summit the Botev Peak is Kalofer the birth place of Hristo Botev, a Bulgarian poet and national hero who died in the Western Stara Planina near Vratsa in 1876 in the struggle against the Ottoman Empire. Also close to Botev peak is the Shipka Pass scene of four battles in Russo Turkish War, 1877-78 which ended Turkish rule in the Balkans. Close to the pass in the village of Shipka there is a Russian Orthodox Church built to commemorate Russian and Bulgarian bravery during pass defense.

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Rila Monastery

The Rila Monastery is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is also called as Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila or Rilski manastir. It is situated in the northwestern Rila Mountains, 117 km or 73 mi south of the capital Sofia in the deep valley of the Rilska River at an elevation of 1,147 m or 3,763 ft above sea level. The monastery is named after the famous Bulgaria saint and hermit Ivan of Rila. The details of Rila Monastery are explained in World tour guides below.


The Rila Monastery is founded in the 10th century, the Rila Monastery is regarded as one of Bulgaria's most important cultural, historical and architectural monuments and it is a key tourist attraction for both Bulgaria and Southeastern Europe as a whole. The monastery is depicted on the reverse of the Bulgarian 1 lev banknote, issued in 1999. It is traditionally thought that the monastery was founded by the hermit St. Ivan of Rila, whose name it bears, during the rule of Tsar Peter I (927-968). The hermit actually lived in a cave without any material possessions not far from the monastery's location, while the complex was built by his students, who came to the mountains to receive their education.

The Rila Monastery has been supported and respected by the Bulgarian rulers. Large donations were made by almost every tsar of the Second Bulgarian Empire up until the Ottoman Conquest, making the monastery a cultural and spiritual centre of Bulgarian national consciousness that reached its apogee from the 12th to the 14th century. The Rila Monastery was reerected at its present place by a local feudal lord named Hrelyu Dragovola during the 14th century. The oldest buildings in the complex date from this period were the Tower of Hrelyu 1334–1335 and a small church just next to it is1343. The bishop's throne and the rich-engraved gates of the monastery also belong to the time. However, the arrival of the Ottomans in the end of the 14th century was followed by numerous raids and a destruction of the monastery in the middle of the 15th century.

The Rila Monastery was rebuilt in the end of the 15th century by three brothers from the region of Kyustendil, who moved Ivan of Rila's relics into the complex. The complex acted as a depository of Bulgarian language and culture in the ages of foreign rule. During the time of the Bulgarian National Revival, it was destroyed by fire in 1833 and then reconstructed between 1834 and 1862 with the help of wealthy Bulgarians from the whole country, under the famous architect Alexi Rilets. The erection of the residential buildings began in 1816, while a belfry was added to the Tower of Hrelyu in 1844. Neofit Rilski founded a school in the monastery during the period.

The monastery complex, regarded as one of the foremost masterpieces of Bulgarian National Revival architecture, was declared a national historical monument in 1976 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. Since 1991 it has been entirely subordinate to the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. On 25 May 2002, Pope John Paul II, the Slavic Pope visited Rila monastery during his pilgrimage to Bulgaria. He was greeted by the Monastery's igumen, Bishop Ioan, who had been an observer at the Second Vatican Council. The whole complex occupies an area of 8,800 m² and is rectangular in form, centred around the inner yard 3,200 m², where the tower and the main church are situated.

The main church of the monastery was erected in the middle of the 19th century. Its architect is Pavel Ioanov, who worked on it from 1834 to 1837. The church has five domes, three altars and two side chapels, while one of the most precious items inside is the gold-plated iconostasis, famous for its wood-carving, the creation of which took five years to four handicraftsmen. The frescoes, finished in 1846, are the work of many masters from Bansko, Samokov and Razlog, including the famous brothers Zahari Zograf and Dimitar Zograf. The church is also home to many valuable icons, dating from the 14th to the 19th century.

The four-storey residential part of the complex consists of 300 chambers, four chapels, an abbot's room, a kitchen, a library housing 250 manuscripts and 9,000 old printed matters, and a donor's room. The exterior of the complex, with its high walls of stone and little windows, resembles a fortress more than a monastery. The museum of the Rila Monastery is particularly famous for housing Rafail's Cross, a wooden cross made from a whole piece of wood. It was whittled down by a monk named Rafail using fine burins and magnifying lenses to recreate 104 religious scenes and 650 miniature figures. Work on this piece of art lasted not less than 12 years before it was completed in 1802, when the monk lost his sight.

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