Pirdop Gate is a 300-m wide pass between Maritsa Peak

Maritsa Peak

Maritsa Peak rises to 560 m in eastern Bowles Ridge on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It has precipitous rocky south slopes, and is situated on the west side of Pirdop Gate, surmounting Huron Glacier to the south and Struma Glacier to the north...

 and Atanasoff Nunatak

Atanasoff Nunatak

Atanasoff Nunatak is a nunatak, a sharp peak rising to 523 m in the east extremity of Bowles Ridge, Livingston Island, Antarctica. The peak sumounts Huron Glacier to the south and east, and Struma Glacier to the north...

 in eastern Bowles Ridge

Bowles Ridge

Bowles Ridge is the central ridge of eastern Livingston Island. The ridge extends 6.5 km in the east-west direction and is 1.5 km wide. The summit of the ridge is Mount Bowles which rises to 822m and is located 9.77 km northwest of Great Needle Peak, 6.08 km north by west of...

, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands

South Shetland Islands

The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...

, Antarctica. It has an elevation of 376 m at its northern entrance from Struma Glacier

Struma Glacier

Struma Glacier is a glacier in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica draining the area between Bowles Ridge and Melnik Ridge. The glacier is 4.8 km long and 1.5 km wide, flowing eastwards into Moon Bay south of Sindel Point and north of Elemag Point...

, and 261 m at the southern entrance from Huron Glacier

Huron Glacier

Huron Glacier is a 7.7 km long and 3.5 km wide glacial flow on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The glacier is bounded by Bowles Ridge to the north, Wörner Gap to the west and Tangra Mountains to the south, receiving ice influx from several tributary glaciers...

. It forms part of an overland route between middle Huron Glacier

Huron Glacier

Huron Glacier is a 7.7 km long and 3.5 km wide glacial flow on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The glacier is bounded by Bowles Ridge to the north, Wörner Gap to the west and Tangra Mountains to the south, receiving ice influx from several tributary glaciers...

 and upper Kaliakra Glacier

Kaliakra Glacier

Kaliakra Glacier is a glacier in northeastern Livingston Island, Antarctica extending 7 km in east-west direction and 8 km in north-south direction...

. The pass was first crossed by the Bulgarians Lyubomir Ivanov and Doychin Vasilev

Doychin Vasilev

Doychin Vasilev is a Bulgarian alpinist and cinematographer who has climbed five Himalayan 8,000 m peaks: Dhaulagiri , Mount Everest , Makalu , and Shishapangma and Cho Oyu . President of Alpine Club Vihren, Sofia...

 from Camp Academia

Camp Academia

Camp Academia is a geographical locality in eastern Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, named for the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in appreciation of Academy’s contribution to the Antarctic exploration...

 on 28 December 2004. Named after the town of Pirdop

Pirdop

Pirdop is a town located in South-West Bulgaria of Sofia Province in the southeastern part of the Zlatitsa - Pirdop Valley at 670 m above sea level. It is surrounded by the Balkan Range to the north, Sredna Gora Mountain to the south, and Koznitsa and Galabets saddles to the east and west,...

 in Central Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

.

Location

The pass is located at 62°36′54"S 60°07′40"W, which is 6.82 km east-northeast of Orpheus Gate

Orpheus Gate

Orpheus Gate is a 548 m high, 380 m wide, pass in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica bounded by Pliska Ridge to the southeast and Burdick Ridge to the northwest, Huntress Glacier to the southwest and Perunika Glacier to the northeast.The pass forms part of the...

, 3.25 km east of Omurtag Pass

Omurtag Pass

Omurtag Pass is a 720 m high pass between Mount Bowles and Ticha Peak in Bowles Ridge, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica and is part of an overland route between the Wörner Gap area and upper Kaliakra Glacier...

, 2.16 km southeast of Yankov Gap

Yankov Gap

Yankov Gap is an ice-covered saddle linking Melnik Ridge and Bowles Ridge in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The gap is at an elevation of 575 m and extends 1 km in the north-south direction from Samokov Knoll in Melnik Ridge to Asparuh Peak in Bowles...

, 5.86 km northwest of Karnobat Pass

Karnobat Pass

Karnobat Pass is a 220 m wide and 720 m high pass in Levski Ridge in Tangra Mountains, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. It is bounded by Helmet Peak to the south and Intuition Peak to the north, and is situated 5.46 km east of Lozen Saddle and 5.86 km southeast of...

 and 3.44 km north-northeast of Lozen Saddle

Lozen Saddle

Lozen Saddle is a 437 m high saddle situated between Lozen Nunatak and Zograf Peak in Tangra Mountains, eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica which provides overland access from the Wörner Gap area to the Shipka Valley...

 (Bulgarian topographic survey Tangra 2004/05

Tangra 2004/05

The Tangra 2004/05 Expedition was commissioned by the Antarctic Place-names Commission at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, managed by the Manfred Wörner Foundation, and supported by the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute, the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics at the Bulgarian Academy...

, and mapping in 2005 and 2009).

Maps

• L.L. Ivanov et al. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich Island, South Shetland Islands. Scale 1:100000 topographic map. Sofia: Antarctic Place-names Commission of Bulgaria, 2005.
• L.L. Ivanov. Antarctica: Livingston Island and Greenwich, Robert, Snow and Smith Islands. Scale 1:120000 topographic map. Troyan: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2009. ISBN 978-954-92032-6-4

Reference

• SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer.