Northwest Bulgaria
The town of Belogradchik (6685 inhabitants, 520 m above sea level) is situated between both mountain massifs Venetsa and Vedernik (small sub-parts of Western Stara Planina), among the fantastic world of Belogradchik rocks. It is 182 km northwest from Sofia, 68 km to the northwest to Montana, 52 km southwest from Vidin and 12 km southwest from the Oreshets railway station. It is a town amidst a fantastic natural environment.
History: This is an old settlement, originated as early as 1st century when the Romans built a fortress among the rocks. After that the fortress and the settlement were ruined many times and built again by Byzantines, Bulgarians, Turks. A register from 1454 testifies about the Bulgarian town here. In 1837 during the reign of the Sultan Mahmud II the fortress was finished in its present-day outlook and the non-paid work of the Bulgarian population. In the period of Ottoman Rule Belogradchik was a small agrarian-craftsman town. A peasant uprising began here in 1850, but it was cruelly crushed and the last defenders of the fortress slaughtered. The name of the town comes from “belija gradezh” (the white building) of the fortress - a natural combination of human and natural work. After the Liberation (1878) Belogradchik gradually becomes a tourist centre above all, which attracts thousands of visitors from the country and abroad.
Landmarks: The Town Museum of History is arranged in the Revival house of the Panovs’ (1810), which in itself is an architectural monument. It is in the centre of the town (tel. 0936 3469). The Astronomical Observatory has one of the most powerful telescopes in Bulgaria. St. Georgi the Victorious Church was built in 1868.
Accommodation: Belogradchishki skali Hotel. Rabisha Tourist Complex (in the park above the stadium, 99 beds in 2 suites and in 2-bed and 4-bed rooms).
Tourist information: At the hotel, at the Tourist Complex and at the Belogradchishki Skali Tourist Association (1, Vasil Levski Str., tel. 0936 3285, 4933).
Transport: There is regular bus transport to Sofia, Montana, Vidin and other smaller settlements in the region. The bus station has a tel.: 0936 3427. There is a bus connection with the Oreshets railway station (12 km to the northeast) of the Mezdra – Vidin railway line which connects Belogradchik to the national railway system.
Surrounding areas: Belogradchishki Skali /rocks/ (formed from red sandstone and conglomerate) - one of the natural wonders of Bulgaria! A fairy-tale stone world surrounds Belogradchik from west, south and southeast. If you come from Sofia by car you will see at first the Falkov-Borovets group of rocks with Momina Skala (Maiden’s Rock), Pchelin kamak, Torlaka, Borovishki Kamak etc. Lipenitsa group is to the east of the town among which biggest interest evoke the Dinosaur and the Latin Kale (a strategic fortress surrounded by a fortified wall). It is worth seeing the Lepenishka Cave in which charred wheat and vessels dating 2000 years ago were found, and the Izvozki oak – more than 1200 years old. Among the Zbegovska group of rocks to the west of the town a great impression make the Twins, the rocks in the area called Magaza, Small and Big Zbeg, which were used as fortresses, the lonely obelisk Borich and the Belogradchik stone bridge. The central group rises immediately above the town. One can see about 100 m high lonely rocks named Adam and Eve, the delicate Madonna, Konika (The Rider), Uchenichkata (The Female Student), Mechkata (The Bear), the Dervish (Muslim clergyman), the impressive Borov Kamak, Mo-na-site (The Monks), the fantastic kale with ancient fortress walls, above which the most magic rock wonders rise.
The French traveler Germon Blanky wrote the following about the Belogradchishki Skali in the distant 1841: “Neither the famous narrow passes of Aulihul in Provance, neither the Pancarbo Gorge in Spain, neither the Alps, neither the Pyrenees, nor the most eminent Tyrol mountains in Switzerland have anything, which can be compared with what I saw in Bulgaria in the town of Belogradchik”. The famous Felix Kanits adds: “It’s hardly probable that a more romantic fortress than the Belogradchik one has ever been built”.
The most characteristic peculiarity of the Belogradchik Fortress is the perfect inclusion of the unapproachable rocks in the whole fortress system. Three copnstruction periods can be seen in the buildings - Roman and Byzantine (1st-6th centuries), Byzantine and Bulgarian (8th-14th centuries) and Turkish (1805-1837). The constructions of the last period prevail in its present-day outlook. The fortress is situated at 10200 sq. m and has 5 gates, 4 of which are main. Magourata or the Rabishkata Peshtera (Rabisha Cave) is found near the village of Rabisha, 16 km west of the town of Dimovo, 50 km southwest from Vidin and 34 km northwest of Belogradchik. It was formed about 3-4 million years ago in the Magoura Hill, 463 m high. Inside one can see unique halls and formations as Triumphalnata Zala (The hall of tryumphs), Harmana (The wheat thrashing site), the Hall of the Stalactone, Glinenite Piramidi (The mud pyramids), Povaleniyat Bor (The fallen pine-tree), Vkamenenata Reka (The Stoned River), The Fiords, etc. The exit of the cave is through Vratach on the bank of the Rabisha Lake. Primitive men lived there. The wall drawings made with bat excrements are the only ones in the caves at the Balkan Peninsular. These masterpieces of late prehistoric art date back from the beginning of the Bronze Age. The cave was used by Manush Voivoda as a shelter. Magourata Cave is electrified, the length of its galleries are 2500 m. A minimal entry fee is paid. There is a hotel, a restaurant, pavilions and other buildings round it. There is a regular bus transport from Belogradchik and the town of Dimovo.
The French traveler Germon Blanky wrote the following about the Belogradchishki Skali in the distant 1841: “Neither the famous narrow passes of Aulihul in Provance, neither the Pancarbo Gorge in Spain, neither the Alps, neither the Pyrenees, nor the most eminent Tyrol mountains in Switzerland have anything, which can be compared with what I saw in Bulgaria in the town of Belogradchik”. The famous Felix Kanits adds: “It’s hardly probable that a more romantic fortress than the Belogradchik one has ever been built”.The most characteristic peculiarity of the Belogradchik Fortress is the perfect inclusion of the unapproachable rocks in the whole fortress system. Three copnstruction periods can be seen in the buildings - Roman and Byzantine (1st-6th centuries), Byzantine and Bulgarian (8th-14th centuries) and Turkish (1805-1837). The constructions of the last period prevail in its present-day outlook. The fortress is situated at 10200 sq. m and has 5 gates, 4 of which are main. Magourata or the Rabishkata Peshtera (Rabisha Cave) is found near the village of Rabisha, 16 km west of the town of Dimovo, 50 km southwest from Vidin and 34 km northwest of Belogradchik. It was formed about 3-4 million years ago in the Magoura Hill, 463 m high. Inside one can see unique halls and formations as Triumphalnata Zala (The hall of tryumphs), Harmana (The wheat thrashing site), the Hall of the Stalactone, Glinenite Piramidi (The mud pyramids), Povaleniyat Bor (The fallen pine-tree), Vkamenenata Reka (The Stoned River), The Fiords, etc. The exit of the cave is through Vratach on the bank of the Rabisha Lake. Primitive men lived there. The wall drawings made with bat excrements are the only ones in the caves at the Balkan Peninsular. These masterpieces of late prehistoric art date back from the beginning of the Bronze Age. The cave was used by Manush Voivoda as a shelter. Magourata Cave is electrified, the length of its galleries are 2500 m. A minimal entry fee is paid. There is a hotel, a restaurant, pavilions and other buildings round it. There is a regular bus transport from Belogradchik and the town of Dimovo.
