Vitosha
Encyclopedia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, the capital of 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...
. Vitosha is one of the tourists symbols of Sofia and the closest site for hiking, alpinism and skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
. Convenient bus lines and rope ways render the mountain easily accessible. Vitosha has the outlines of an enormous dome. The territory of the mountain includes Vitosha national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
that encompasses the best known and most frequently visited parts. The foothills of Vitosha shelter resort quarters of Sofia; Knyazhevo quarter has mineral
Mineral water
Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value, generally obtained from a naturally occurring mineral spring or source. Dissolved substances in the water may include various salts and sulfur compounds...
springs
Hot spring
A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...
. Vitosha is the oldest national park in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
.
Cherni Vrah
Cherni Vrah is the summit of Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria. Rising to 2290 m, the peak is the fourth highest mountain summit in the country after Musala , Vihren , and Botev Vrah .Cherni Vrah is bounded to the northwest by Torfeno Branishte which — like the extensive adjacent...
("Black Peak"). This is the highest point of the mountain at 2290 m and is one of 10 peaks of Vitosha over 2000 m in height.
Since the ancient times of the Thracians
Thracians
The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...
a large population has always existed at the base of Vitosha. For the last four thousand years the economy
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
of this large settlement has always been connected, in one way or another, with the neighboring mountain. The name Vitosha comes from the two-peaked, twin ridge mountain, which rises above the Sofia field and has acquired its present shape in stages over many millennia.
A meteorological station was built at the top in 1935, and is still operating. The station also serves as a rest shelter for hikers and is the headquarters for the mountain rescue team. Historical documents show that several centuries ago Vitosha mountain was still covered by the remains of the inaccessible "Great Bulgarian Forest" (Magna Silva Bulgarica). Today, the natural coniferous forests of Vitosha remain only in the reserve Bistrishko Branishte and around Zlatnite Mostove
Zlatnite Mostove
Zlatnite Mostove is the largest stone river on Vitosha Mountain, Bulgaria. The feature is situated in the valley of Vladayska River, extending 2.2 km, and up to 150 m wide, with several ‘tributary’ stone rivers. The stone river is ‘descending’ from elevation 1800 m above sea level...
(The Golden Bridges). The Golden Bridges is an amazing phenomenon known as The Stone River
Stone run
A stone run is a conspicuous rock landform, result of the erosion of particular rock varieties caused by myriad freezing-thawing cycles taking place in periglacial conditions during the last Ice Age.The actual formation of stone runs involved no less than five processes: weathering, solifluction,...
and consists of a ribbon of huge boulders running down the mountainside. This scenic spot is located along the Vladayska River in an area of mixed deciduous and evergreen forest. However, this is only one of the stone rivers
Stone run
A stone run is a conspicuous rock landform, result of the erosion of particular rock varieties caused by myriad freezing-thawing cycles taking place in periglacial conditions during the last Ice Age.The actual formation of stone runs involved no less than five processes: weathering, solifluction,...
found in Vitosha and they were once the moraines of ancient glaciers. Their further formation occurred due to the spherical erosion of the sienite rocks and their gradual movement to down stream valleys by the forces of gravity and moving water.
At a time when nature conservation ideas were a long way from the present understanding, some enlightened noblemen took the first step in 1934 by declaring 66 km² of Vitosha a national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
, hence Vitosha became the first park of this kind in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. During the following year, some of the early Bulgarian reserves, Bistrishko Branishte
Bistrishko Branishte
Bistrishko Branishte is a nature reserve on Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria comprising the eastern slopes of Golyam Rezen , Malak Rezen and Skoparnik Peaks, the northern slopes of Golyam Kupen Peak , and the upper valleys of Vitoshka Bistritsa River and Yanchevska River...
(subsequently expanded to 10.61 km²) and Torfeno Branishte
Torfeno Branishte
Torfeno Branishte is a nature reserve on Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria, along with the Bistrishko Branishte reserve. The reserve has a surface area of 728.8 ha comprising the parts of Big Plateau and the Kapaklivets Plateau between the peaks of Cherni Vrah , Ushite , and Chernata Skala ,...
(7.84 km² respectively), were defined within its boundaries. The park boundaries fluctuated over many years and today it encompasses the entire mountain; an area of 266.06 km².
The Syfy Channel original movie, Rage of the Yeti, was filmed on Mt. Vitosha in January 2010 by UFO Films, a movie production company based both in Sofia and Burbank, CA.
Ecology
Due to a great variability in elevationElevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
, a rich diversity of climates, flora and fauna can be found within the park. Research has revealed that on the comparatively small area of the mountain there are 1,500 species of higher plants, 500 species of fungi, 500 species of algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
, 326 species of mosses, and 200 species of lichens. Among them 31 species are Balkan endemics and 52 species are included in the Red Book of Bulgaria. The forests are made up mainly of Norway Spruce
Norway Spruce
Norway Spruce is a species of spruce native to Europe. It is also commonly referred to as the European Spruce.- Description :...
and Bulgarian Fir
Bulgarian Fir
Abies borisii-regis is a species of fir native to the mountains of the Balkan Peninsula, in Bulgaria, northern Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Serbia...
, with some Macedonian Pine
Macedonian Pine
Pinus peuce is a species of pine native to the mountains of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, the extreme southwest of Serbia, and the extreme north of Greece, growing typically at 1,000-2,200 m altitude. It often reaches the alpine tree line in this area...
, Scots Pine
Scots Pine
Pinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia...
, and at the tree-line, Mountain Pine
Mountain Pine
Pinus mugo, the Mountain Pine or Mugo Pine, is a high-altitude European pine, found in the Pyrenees, Alps, Erzgebirge, Carpathians, northern Apennines and Balkan Peninsula mountains from 1,000 m to 2,200 m, occasionally as low as 200 m in the north of the range in Germany and Poland, and as high...
, and mixed deciduous
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
forest at lower altitudes, mainly beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
, birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
, aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
and alder
Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
.
Honours
Vitosha SaddleVitosha Saddle
Vitosha Saddle is a narrow ice-covered saddle of elevation 1050 m extending in southwest-northeast direction between Great Needle Peak and Vihren Peak in the Levski Ridge of Tangra Mountains, eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica...
, Rezen Knoll
Rezen Knoll
Rezen Knoll is a knoll rising to 433 m in eastern Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The knoll is bounded to the east, north and west by Perunika Glacier, and linked to Burdick Ridge by Rezen Saddle. The feature is 250 m wide, extending 500 m in east-west direction....
, Komini Peak
Komini Peak
Komini Peak is a peak with an elevation of on the north slopes of Levski Peak, in the Tangra Mountains, in Livingston Island, Antarctica.The peak has precipitous rocky western slopes and was first climbed by Lyubomir Ivanov from Camp Academia by way of its 212-m high western rock wall on 21...
, and Kikish Crag
Kikish Crag
Kikish Crag is a peak rising to 650 m in Friesland Ridge, Tangra Mountains on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica and is named after Kikish site in Vitosha Mountain, Bulgaria.-Location:...
on 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 are named respectively for Mount Vitosha, and for the Vitosha peaks of Malak Rezen
Malak Rezen
Malak Rezen is a peak rising to 2,191 m in northeastern Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria. The peak is situated 1.5 km northeast of the summit Cherni Vrah, and 1.3 km north by east of Golyam Rezen Peak, surmounting Stenata ski run and Aleko site to the north.Malak Rezen is accessible...
and Golyam Rezen
Golyam Rezen
Golyam Rezen is a peak on Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria. Rising to 2,277 m, the peak is second to the mountain's summit Cherni Vrah situated 900 m to the west. Golyam Rezen hosts an Air Traffic Services facility, as well as military communications installations...
, Kominite Peak, and Kikish site.
Vitosha is also the name of:
- Radio VitoshaRadio VitoshaRadio Vitosha is one of the mostly popular & listened radio stations in Bulgaria and Sofia.The radio was found in the late 90s and was the first radio in Bulgaria to make a morning show...
- Vitosha BoulevardVitosha BoulevardVitosha Boulevard is the main commercial street in the centre of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, which is abundant in many posh stores, restaurants and bars. It extends from the St Nedelya Square to the Southern Park...
- a popular main street in Sofia; with shops, boutiques and restaurants.
See also
- Stone riversStone runA stone run is a conspicuous rock landform, result of the erosion of particular rock varieties caused by myriad freezing-thawing cycles taking place in periglacial conditions during the last Ice Age.The actual formation of stone runs involved no less than five processes: weathering, solifluction,...
- Bistrishko BranishteBistrishko BranishteBistrishko Branishte is a nature reserve on Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria comprising the eastern slopes of Golyam Rezen , Malak Rezen and Skoparnik Peaks, the northern slopes of Golyam Kupen Peak , and the upper valleys of Vitoshka Bistritsa River and Yanchevska River...
- Torfeno BranishteTorfeno BranishteTorfeno Branishte is a nature reserve on Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria, along with the Bistrishko Branishte reserve. The reserve has a surface area of 728.8 ha comprising the parts of Big Plateau and the Kapaklivets Plateau between the peaks of Cherni Vrah , Ushite , and Chernata Skala ,...
- AlekoAleko, VitoshaAleko is a site on Vitosha Mountain in Bulgaria situated at the northern foothills of Malak Rezen Peak , in the watershed of Yanchevska River draining eastwards towards the village of Bistritsa, Sofia....