City in Bulgaria Strandzha. Strandja National Park. What is personal data

Reserve Strandzha. "In the footsteps of the ancient Thracians". Places I have never been myself. Reviews about Bulgaria.

Hello dear friends!

It is still a bit frosty in Varna, but we are waiting for warmer weather and spring. She will come to Bulgaria very soon, I think.

Last week I dealt with "paperwork" on payments for "Zdravno osiguryavane" (health insurance), and very soon I will be able, like the Bulgarians, to use the services of a personal doctor. Now in search of the latter, and I will definitely write a detailed article about it.

She sent me her story a long time ago, with which you are familiar from her reviews of Bulgaria, published on my website. These are stories about, and, and so on ...

But first, I'll take this opportunity to congratulate all current and former students on Students' Day, and all Tatiana's friends and acquaintances on their Name Day, because today is Tatiana's day! May the patroness of Tatyana and students keep you from adversity and failure! Be healthy and happy.

For these holidays you can take on the site "Photoshop from Olechka" .

And now about a place where I have not been myself, but I really want to go there ... Strandzha Reserve. "In the footsteps of the ancient Thracians"

Moscow, Russia

We went on another wonderful excursion with our guide Polina.

This time we were not alone, there were also tourists from Belarus with us.

We went to one of the most beautiful places in Bulgaria - the Strandzha Reserve.

The Strandzha Nature Reserve is the largest national park in Europe, the largest natural park in Bulgaria. It stretches from the town of Malko Tarnovo, beyond Burgas, and stretches to the very border with Turkey. Travel time from Burgas to Malko Tarnovo is approximately 1.5 hours.

Heading towards the reserve, we passed fields with growing sunflowers, and Bulgarian villages. Some villages are well-groomed and beautiful, while others are not very. There was also one village that simply shocked us with its appearance, it was so unkempt. The village bore the poetic name "Zvezdets", and I must say, its appearance very much corresponded to this name. The sight of old, not repaired houses with peeling plaster did not please. It turned out that gypsies live in this village. Fortunately, we did not meet such villages on our way, the rest of the villages pleased the eye with pleasant houses with tiled roofs, a lot of flowers and wonderful green gardens with fruit trees.

The Strandzha Reserve is a wonderful small mountains covered with broad-leaved forests dominated by oak, beech, birch. This is a large coastal water area, these are reservoirs with a large number of rare fish. The park is home to unique rare butterflies and 270 species of various birds have been recorded. And the reserve itself is popularly called the "lungs" of Bulgaria because of its unique climate.

People living in local villages have preserved many folk customs, among which the most famous and popular among tourists is nestinar dances. These are dances on hot coals in honor of Saints Constantine and Helena.

But we went to the Strandzha park not only to admire nature. Our tour was called "In the footsteps of the ancient Thracians."

The Thracians are tribes of Indo-European origin, and it was they who for a very long time, even before our era, inhabited most of the Balkan Peninsula. These tribes lived sedentary, were engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. And, of course, the Thracians were pagans. In the Strandzha Mountains, archaeologists have found many interesting places and sanctuaries of the ancient Thracians.

One of the largest sanctuaries is Beglik Tash. To get to this mysterious place, around which there are many legends, you need to get to a small seaside town, which is called Primorsko. It is believed that Beglik Tash was discovered in 2003, but local residents say that in Soviet times this place was already known, but closed from prying eyes, as Bulgarian communist leaders and our Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev came here to receive treatment and gain energy.

The ancient sanctuary is located at the highest point of the cape with the same name Beglik Tash. 128 meters above sea level. The sanctuary itself has existed since the 13th century BC. On its territory, archaeologists have discovered the remains of settlements, as well as sacrificial fires. In this sanctuary, ceremonies associated with the cult of the Sun God and the Goddess of Fertility were held.

The sanctuary itself is a large platform on which there are huge stones - megaliths. Each of the stones had its own purpose, many of the stones show traces of human processing.

In order to make it easier for tourists to understand the purpose of the sacred stones, explanatory signs are installed near each stone complex. Beglik Tash is not only a sacrificial complex, but also an observatory, a clock and a calendar. For rituals and sacrifices, the Thracians used wine, olive oil, milk and water.

In addition to Beglik Tash, many more traces of the ancient Thracians have been lost in the huge Strandzha reserve. For example, the Mishkov Niva sanctuary. It is not as famous and large as Beglik Tash, but it is famous for the fact that archaeologists found a tomb there with the remains of a huge creature and associate this place with extraterrestrial civilizations.

Also in Strandzha is the Temple of the Sun God. They say that if you manage to crawl into a narrow gap in the sacred stone, then a person can be cleansed of all filth and be reborn again. We also tried to climb through the gap, and also brought oil, milk, water and red wine with us, and joined the amazing ancient rituals a little.

At the end of the tour, we visited the Dokuzak waterfall, where, as our guide advised us, we need to take a bath. True, not all of us decided on this, since the water in the waterfall was icy, despite the hot summer.

Strandzha Reserve - unique place, where it is necessary to turn off mobile phones so that nothing interferes and does not distract you from unity with nature and the ancient world. There is such an amazing energy there. And no one knows exactly how many amazing treasures and traces of ancient civilizations this unique natural park hides. Perhaps the Strandzha Reserve will eventually reveal its new secrets to us.

And special thanks to our wonderful guide Polina for showing us such amazing places in Bulgaria.

Moscow, Russia

That's it interesting place is in Bulgaria. How many attractions have I not opened yet? Thanks Natasha for sharing your story.

By the way, I was going to tell you about Nestina dances for a long time. I have already seen this sacred action three times, but I did not bother to show you. Fortunately, there are photos, so I promise.

Strandzha Nature Park is located in southeastern Bulgaria. The southern border of the park coincides with the state border of Bulgaria and Turkey. Strandzha Park is the largest protected area in Bulgaria, with an area of ​​more than a thousand square meters. km. The territory of the park is located in the Strandzha Mountains, and in the east it reaches the shores of the Black Sea.

The territory of the Strandzha Nature Park has been protected by the state since 2000. This territory includes 14 specially protected areas, 5 nature reserves and 8 natural attractions.

The flora and fauna of the park is truly unique. 64 species of relic animals and plants live and grow here. Seven of them can be found only in this park. The amazing biological diversity of these places is due to the favorable climate, geological past and location between Asia, the Mediterranean and Europe.

Broad-leaved forests typical of the Tertiary period (about 1.8 million years ago) cover 80% of the park. Some of the trees here, including the Hartvis oak, rock oak, oriental beech and thick oak, are over 500 years old and have a trunk diameter of up to 2 meters.

The Strandzha Park is home to the largest number of vertebrates in Bulgaria - 431 species, of which 31 are relict. Also, 600 species of invertebrates, 70 species of marine and 42 species of river fish live here. Millions of birds each year use the air corridor over the coast of the park to fly from Northern Europe to Africa. In this regard, the territory of the park is very important for maintaining the life of several dozen species of rare birds. 270 species of birds have been recorded in the park itself.

Except natural wealth these places are of cultural value. Nestinar dances, known as dances on hot coals, are one of the customs that have come down to us from pagan times. This custom is included in the UNESCO World Intangible Heritage List. In the village of Bulgari, this dance can be seen on May 21, in the village of Brodilovo - on July 27, and in the village of Kosti - on July 20.

The park has several historical sites. For example, near the village of Stoilovo there is Petrova Niva, where there is a memorial in memory of those who died during the Ilidensko-Preobrazhensky uprising of 1903, the chapel-bone of St. Petka and a museum exposition. And not far from the town of Malko Tarnovo, in the Mishkova field, there is a Thracian tomb. Many villages of this territory have preserved ancient architecture.

In the southeastern part of the country there is a beautiful and unique area of ​​Strandzha. The main natural advantages of Bulgaria are miraculously intertwined here - the gentle azure sea and the majestic mountain peaks, picturesque waterfalls and mysterious caves, virgin centuries-old forests and the lazy expanse of flat rivers. The Strandzha mountain range does not "fit" within one country and is divided between neighboring states. On the Bulgarian side, a significant part of it is reserved for a unique natural park.

Strandzha Park is the largest in Bulgaria, its area covers 1161 sq. km, which is about 1% of the entire territory of the country. Its southern borders coincide with the political border.

The unique geographical conditions at the junction of Europe and Asia, the influence of the Black and Mediterranean Seas cause a rather mild climate. Average annual temperatures range between 11-13°C, with mild winters and no scorching heat in summer. Naturally, the higher to the peaks, the more severe the frosts and the higher the amount of precipitation. Well, the coast is famous for the largest number of sunny days in the country. Mountain slopes covered with relic forests occupy at least 2/3 of the natural park. They give life to a huge number of crystal springs, streams. Many of them are believed to have healing properties.

More than half of all plants and animals found in Bulgaria are spread over a relatively small area of ​​the park. About a hundred relic representatives of flora and fauna have been preserved here. Many of them cannot be seen anywhere else. In total, more than 1600 varieties of plants grow in Strandja, more than 400 vertebrate and 600 invertebrate species of animals and about 270 birds inhabit it. There are about 40 types of freshwater fish, and the Black Sea coastal area is populated almost twice as densely - there are about 70 varieties of underwater marine "inhabitants". Several dozen inhabitants of various elements of the natural park are listed in the Red Book. Strandzha is of great ecological importance for the whole of Europe: one of the main migration routes of migratory birds, Via Pontica, passes over the massif.

Numerous archaeological finds eloquently testify that the blessed Strandzha was chosen by people in ancient times. From the ancient Thracian tribes of the Tins and Asts, the ruins of fortresses, the remains of stone sanctuaries and dolmens remained. Extremely rich in ancient artifacts, Malko Tarnovo is the unofficial capital of the Strandja region. In addition to the fact that the city is interesting in itself with its original architecture, a huge number of monuments of the Thracian, Roman, Byzantine and ancient Bulgarian eras have been preserved in its vicinity. Do not lag behind him and many villages, whose age often exceeds the number of inhabitants.

A significant part of Strandzha remained under Turkish rule when Bulgaria was already independent. In the historical area of ​​Petrova Niva, the memory of the Ilinden-Preobrazhensky uprising of 1903 is carefully preserved, when the Bulgarian population of Macedonia and Odrin Thrace opposed the power of the Ottoman Empire. The uprising was brutally suppressed, thousands of patriots were killed, dozens of villages were burned. Many hundreds of peasants left without a roof over their heads were forced to emigrate from the country. A majestic memorial of national importance reminds of those terrible events.

Almost every local village is a unique historical and ethnographic monument with original specific architecture and an inexhaustible source of rare rituals and customs. The most famous and spectacular action - nestinar dances has ancient pagan roots. Traditions of dancing on red-hot coals survived under the conditions of church oppression and official prohibitions of secular authorities. UNESCO even included the dance ceremony in the list of world intangible cultural heritage.

Tourists will be incredibly lucky if they can get to the festivities - panair. Usually dedicated to the days of commemoration of certain saints, these holidays are a surprisingly colorful mixture of Orthodox rites with ancient traditions, elements of pagan rituals, a fair and a feast. It should be remembered that these activities play an extremely important role in the traditional culture of the local population. This is by no means a specially organized entertainment for travelers and the presence at the panair is a great honor for those invited.

Despite the fact that the entire natural park is under state protection, several objects, which make up approximately 5% of the total area of ​​Strandzha, are protected much more carefully. Visiting such territories by tourists is possible only with strict observance of a number of simple, but rather strict rules. In addition to 5 relatively small reserves - Silkosiya, Uzunbudzhak, Vitanovo, Sredoka, Tysovitsa, 14 reserves were included in the list. It should be noted that the register also includes about a dozen objects, among which there are individual plants - a thousand-year-old oak near the village of Zabernovo, another oak giant, reaching almost 5.5 meters in girth, archaeological and natural attractions.

For active and inquisitive Strandzha is an inexhaustible storehouse of opportunities. A huge number of natural beauties, hiking, horse and bicycle routes, excellent fishing and hunting against the backdrop of landscapes untouched by civilization give a unique chance to learn a lot of new things and test your strength. The acquired impressions will allow you to keep a charge of vivacity, purity and spiritual harmony from unity with nature for a long time.

Bulgaria. Guide Shetar Daniela

national park*Strandzha

National Park *Strandzha

Mountainous, densely forested part of the mainland near the southern coast, large * Strandzha National Park(up to 700 m above sea level) is a wonderful but difficult place for hiking. The main goal for one-day and multi-day excursions in the National Park are usually karst formations - caves, dips and unusual weathering figures among the rocks. Tours to cultural treasures such as churches and monasteries in small old villages are also popular.

The flora and fauna here are extremely diverse: in addition to wild boars and red deer, wolves live in this area, in spring black storks build their nests on the bell towers, holly holly, laurel and rhododendron grow near reservoirs.

This area is also famous for the fact that it has long been practiced fire-walking (nesting): men and women, as if in a trance, dance barefoot on smoldering coals in honor of St. Constantine and Elena. Village Bolgari (Balgari) (39), 25 km from Tsarevo inland, is considered a stronghold of nesting. A demonstration of this rite can often be seen at folk festivals in large resorts.

The administrative center of this vast park, which clearly lacks tourist infrastructure, is Malko Tarnovo (40). Here it is park management and museum of natural history, introducing guests to the flora and fauna of the Strandzha National Park.