My Home Bulgaria |
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The Southwest
Formerly noted for their bandits and hermits, the Rila and Pirin ranges contain Bulgaria`s highest, stormiest peaks: swathed in forests and dotted with alpine lakes awaiting anyone prepared to hike or risk their car`s suspension on the back roads. In the Rila range Borovets and Malyovitsa are major winter sports centres, both within easy striking distance from Sofia. On the way you pass through the historic crafts town of Samokov, whose artists adorned Rila Monastery, the most revered of Bulgarian holy places. The Pirin range is wilder and less developed, although its highest peak, Mt Vihren, is accessible from Bansko, a nest of old stone houses, the most attractive of the mountain towns. On the southern fringes of the Pirin range near the Greek border, the monastery of Rozhen lies at the end of a great hike from the village of Melnik, known both for its wine and its vernacular architecture. Slightly nearer to Sofia, the route leading west towards the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia takes you past the ancient monastery of Zemen and the spa town of Kyustendil, which retains a smattering of Ottoman-period remains. Destinations like these - along with many others in the southwest - are possible day trips from the capital. Just one or two hours away from Sofia, Zemen Monastery and the spa town of Kyustendil - not to mention some lovely wild countryside - are easily accessible from the city. Cars and buses take the E870 highway (which leaves the main southbound E79 at Pernik); to get to Zemen requires a small detour, leaving the highway at Izvor and then following minor roads. Trains (leaving the capital at 7am, 9am and 5.20pm) run from Zemen to Kyustendil, thus making it just about possible to include both places in a long day trip. The route initially passes through some of Bulgaria`s most unprepossessing urban-industrial sprawl, centred around the mining and smelting settlements of Pernik and Radomir -neither of which, however, are without historical interest. Pernik Although both have played a significant role in Bulgarian history, by no stretch of the imagination could Pernik or Radomir be called attractive, and if you can avoid them, so much the better. Motorists on the E79 can escape with a brush of Pernik`s eastern outskirts, but travellers heading south by train will - at least briefly - find themselves in both towns, since the line from Sofia passes through Pernik and divides at Radomir en route to Kyustendil or Dupnitsa. The remains of a fortress on Krakra Pernishki hill and the derivation of its name - from the Slav god Perun - are the sole traces of antiquity in PERNIK. After 1891 this hitherto agricultural village became Bulgaria`s largest centre of coal mining - an industry that still employs the bulk of the population. Indeed, the city`s only real attraction is the rarely open Mining Museum (officially Mon-Fri 8am-noon & l-6pm), which is reached from the train and bus stations by head¬ing down ul. Targovska as far as the high-rise Hotel Strumathen following the modern pedestrianized expanse of bul. Krakra Pernishki to the end. During the Communist period, miners received wages almost 70 percent higher than other industrial workers and enjoyed early retirement, subsidized holidays and other benefits. Today, however, the Bulgarian mining industry is overstaffed and underproductive, and working-class communities like Pernik have fallen on hard times. Nearby at ul. Fizkultura 2 there`s a small History Museum (again unpre¬dictable, but should be Tues-Sun 9am-noon & 2-5pm), which holds a collection of ancient Thracian grave tablets found at a nearby sanctuary, as well as a few ethnographical oddments relating to the kukeri rites. Indeed, the Festival of the Kukeri represents Pernik`s only real source of excitement. Supposedly organized once every five years (the last one took place in the first week of February 1993), the festival offers a re-enactment of the old survakari and kukeri rites, originally intended to ward off evil spirits and promote fertility respectively. About 3500 dancers participate, wearing terrifying or grotesque masks, yelling and chanting. Radomir On the slopes of "Bare Mountain" in a valley to the southwest, RADOMIR has developed in conjunction with Pernik, on whose coal and power its industries depend. The Machine-Building Works - here nicknamed "Goliath" - specializes in the production of heavy cranes, blast furnaces and open-cast mining gear. Historically, the town is renowned as the site of the short-lived Radomir Republic, proclaimed by soldiers returning from the front in 1918, who began marching on Sofia to punish those responsible for Bulgaria`s entry into World War I. Prevented from doing so by German troops, they so alarmed the government that it released the Agrarian leader Stamboliiski to avert a revolution. Radomir`s socialist credentials were enhanced by the town`s proximity to the birthplace of Georgi Dimitrov, in the village of Kovachevtsi 10km to the west. Zemen Lacking the high walls, tiers of cells and decorative facades that make Rila outstanding, ZEMEN MONASTERY {Zemenski manastir) seems humble by comparison, and its small twelfth-century cruciform Church of St Ivan the Theologian appears similarly modest from the outside. Inside, however, are some of Bulgaria`s finest surviving medieval frescos, sensitively restored between 1970 and 1974. The frescos - produced by anonymous artists during the 1350s for local noble Konstantin Deyan - are examples of the Macedonian School of paint¬ing, which was somewhat cruder and less formalized than the predominant style of Tarnovo. Against a background of cool blues and greys, the saints with their golden halos and finery are depicted in hierarchies (including Deyan and his wife Doya); while the narrative scenes are mainly rendered in ochrous hues, with dark blues and reds employed to highlight the gravity of episodes like the Treason of Judas and the Judgement of Pilate. The monastery is 3km southwest of Zemen itself, overlooking the town from a secluded hillside site. It`s easy to find, however: on leaving the train station simply bear right into the main street and keep going. To the southwest of Zemen, the River Struma has carved a rugged nineteen kilometre-long defile between two massifs, known as the Zemenski Prolon-Various rock formations - dubbed the Cart Rails, the Dovecote, and so on by locals - are visible from the carriage window when the trains aren`t plunging through a series of tunnels to escape the precipitous gorge; drivers will miss this view, however, as the road skirts round the gorge to the south. On inaccessible bone-dry crags you can also see the ruins of ancient forts, believed to have once defended the long-vanished town of Zemlen against incursions by the Byzantine Empire. The gorge ends near the village of Razhdavitsa, beyond which lies the broad Kyustendil plain - which locals proudly describe as the "largest orchard in Bulgaria". Fragrant in spring, the plain is richly coloured during autumn by the red apples, yellow pears and lustrous grapes that hang profusely in the orchards and vineyards. Kyustendil Bisected by the River Bansko, the town of KYUSTENDIL, with its fertile plain and thermal springs, has attracted conquerors since Thracian times. The Romans developed this into the "town of baths", and the Turks who settled here in large numbers after the fourteenth century constructed the hamams and mosques that gave Kyustendil its oriental character. Some of this atmosphere lingers on in the old backstreets, although the centre of town has undergone considerable modernization. Most of this has been tasteful: the town`s wide, tree-shaded avenues lined with cafes help to make it one of the most pleasant and relaxing urban environments that Bulgaria has to offer. Arrival and accommodation The train and bus stations are 2km from the central pi. Velbazhd, at the northern end of bul. Balgariya. The Orbita bureau at ul. Yavorov 7 (Mon-Fri 9am-noon & l-5pm), lkm east of pl. Velbazhd, has private rooms for about $10 a double. Of the town`s hotels, the 2-star Pautalia, pl. Velbazhd 1 (078/24561), and 3-star Velbazhd, bul. Balgariya 4 (078/20246), are both comfortable and central. For a more secluded location, there are two hotels above town in Hisarlak Park: the relatively characterless Hisarlaka (078/25606), and the Bernd (078/24129), a newish, privately owned place with TVs in most rooms and good views of the surrounding countryside. Two hikers` chalets within striking distance of Kyustendil are the Osogovo and Trite Buki, both about four hours` walk from town on the road to Mt Ruen - at 2252m the highest point around. The Town The train station, Kyustendil`s main street, the tree-lined bul. Balgaria, leads south towards the centre. After a couple of hundred metres, ul. Krakra leads left towards an impressive modern art gallery (Tues-Sun 9.30-11.45am & 2-6pm) devoted to the work of local painter Vladimir Dimitrov-Maistor, who earned the honorific title of "Master" by treating standard uplifting themes in a vigorous rather uniform style. Heavily influenced by Eastern philosophy, Dimitrov tried to use his art to explore the timeless values of the Bulgarian peasantry. The archchetypal Dimitrov-Maistor picture features an oddly serene, almost saintly peasant girl, standing against a background scene of agricultural plenty. The white bearded mystic considered himself one step removed from contemporary moral¬ity, and had an exceptionally close relationship with his sister Yordana. A daugh¬ter, still living in Sofia, is said to have resulted from this union. The bathhouse and Town Museum Near the gallery is the overgrown brick dome of a small Turkish bath (7am-5pm), which admits men on Tuesdays and Thursdays and women on other days. Kyustendil`s much larger municipal bathhouse (Mon, Tues & Thurs-Sat 5.30am-8.30pm, Wed & Sun 5.30am-12.50pm) lies a couple of blocks to the south, fronted by a fountain that boasts three kitsch statues of babies. For a tiny fee you can bathe in its hot (74° C), sulphate-rich waters - waters which are used in several union-run sanatoria for the treatment of gynecological and nervous disorders, including the heavy-metal poisoning that is an occupational hazard for certain miners. Behind the baths stands the sixteenth-century Mosque of Ahmed Bey, now the Town Museum (Tues-Sun 8am-noon & l-5.30pm). A modest array of archaeological trinkets awaits inspection inside, highlights of which are a couple of Neolithic dwellings, transferred here from the place they were excavated near Slatino, 40km southeast of Kyustendil; and an abstract late Roman floor mosaic. Immediately outside the mosque, the foundations of the Roman baths have been uncovered. Ploshtad Velbazhd, Mosque of Fetih Mehmed and the market A few steps west of the museum, the predominantly modern main square, pl. Velbazhd, is dominated by a memorial to Todor Aleksandrov, the Macedonian revolutionary who was assassinated by a group of his own colleagues in August. Although not in Macedonia itself, Kyustendil always occupied a special role in the struggles for Macedonian liberation at the turn of the century, with groups of heavily armed guerrillas regularly descending on the town before crossing the border into Ottoman territory. Lurking at the southern end of the square, beneath chestnut trees, is the triple-domed Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa. There`s a representative collection of nineteenth-century icons inside, some featuring Greek-language inscriptions that have been partially scratched away by zealous Bulgarians eager to erase memo¬ries of Hellenic cultural influence. Right behind the church is the Maiorska kashta, a National Revival-style house that nowadays harbours a cafe. The main boulevard heading east from here soon leads to the tumbledown, overgrown Mosque of Fetih Mehmed, its minaret etched with hexagonal patterns, an effect achieved by inserting red tiles into the darker brown brick¬work. Just to the east, traders and shoppers from the nearby Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia crowd the daily market, south of which pathways begin the ascent of Hisarlak hill, shrouded in wooded parkland. Near the summit you can see the ruins of what was originally an extensive Roman settlement around the Asclepion, the sacred baths where Emperor Trajan cured his skin complaint and renamed the town Ulpia Pautalia to mark the occasion. Intermingled are the remains of a medieval fortress once occupied by the boyar Deyan. The Ottomans, who supplanted his rule over the region during the mid-fourteenth century, desig¬nated their new acquisition "Konstantin`s land" - Kostandinili in Turkish - which eventually gave rise to the name of the town. Eating, drinking and nightlife Bulevard Balgariya is packed with pavement cafes and restaurants. Gostinitsa Batenberg, Balgariya 14, is a good place to sample the usual Bulgarian grilled meats; for a change, Pizzeria Nord, Balgariya 20, has reasonable approximations of standard Italian dishes. The Pautalia and Velbazhd hotels are the best places in which to sample meagre nightlife; the former has a restaurant with live music, the latter a disco. Dupnitsa At least two buses a day travel from Kyustendil to the frontier with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia just beyond Gyueshevo, continuing on to the Macedonian capital Skopje. There are also buses to the Macedonian lakeside resort of Ohrid, and the Albanian capital Tirana. The border crossing is regu¬larly clogged with traffic; expect to wait about an hour if you`re travelling by private car, longer if travelling by bus. Twenty kilometres northwest of Kyustendil there`s also a crossing point into Serbia. Daily buses (currently leav¬ing Kyustendil at 4pm) run to Bosilegrad, the first major town on the other side of the border, but make sure you have a valid Yugoslav visa before setting. Frequent buses cover the 35-kilometre journey east to Dupnitsa (by train you have to backtrack and change at Radomir), where you can rejoin the main southward route towards the Pirin region and Greece. Just beyond Nevestino (14.5km from Kyustendil), the Dupnitsa road crosses a famous old bridge over the Struma, the Kadin Most. Supported by five arches, the 17-metre-long bridge was constructed between 1463 and 1470 to guarantee the Ottoman lines of communication and convey caravans en route between the Danube and Salonika, although local legends advance different explanations. According to one story, the Turkish Vizier Isak Pasha took pity on a maiden separated from her betrothed by the river, and had it built as a wedding present - hence its original name, the Bride`s Bridge. Another tale has it that the builder, Manuil, suggested to his brothers that they appease the river god by offering one of their wives as a sacrifice, the victim being whichever woman arrived first with her husband`s lunch. Manuil`s wife turned up and was promptly immured, weeping and begging that they leave holes so that she might see daylight and continue to suckle her child. South of Sofia, Mt Vitosha gives way with barely a pause to the Rila Mountains, area of wild highlands enclosing fertile valleys. If you`re heading down the fflain southbound route towards Greece you`ll only see the lowland town of nitsa and the western fringes of the range, although this is the best direction which to approach Rila Monastery, the finest in Bulgaria. The region`s ski resorts and hiking centres are easier to reach via the town of Samokov to the northwest. SAMOKOV With a car, it`s easy to get to the historic town of Samokov and the mountain resorts Borovets and Malyovitsa on a day trip from Sofia, but to appreciate them - and for anyone reliant on public transport - it`s more realistic to allow at least two days. If you`re planning to head on to Rila Monastery, bear in mind that it`s almost easier to walk across the mountains than get there by bus from Malyovitsa or Samokov. Happily, the journey from Sofia to Samokov isn`t difficult, with half-hourly buses from the capital`s Yug bus terminal following the River Iskar past Lake Pancharevo, a centre for water sports. Entering the defile between the Lozhen and Plana massifs, you should be able to glimpse the ruined fortress of Urvich, where Tsar Shishman allegedly withstood the Turks for seven years; on the opposite bank, Zheleznitsa monastery lurks deep in the forest. Beyond the defile lies the massive Iskar Dam and Lake Iskar - an artificially created body of water 16km long, sometimes known as the "Sea of Sofia". The Shtarkelovo Gnezdo ("Stork`s Nest") motel and chalet complex, well signposted from the main road, is a popularlakeside recreation spot for weekending Sofia-dwellers. Though it lacks the cachet of antiquity, SAMOKOV has a tradition of skilled work, artistic achievement and popular socialism second to none in Bulgaria. Founded as a mining community in the fourteenth century, it soon became one of the busiest manufacturing centres in the Turkish empire - the name of the town derives from the Bulgarian verb "to forge". All kinds of crafts guilds flourished here, particularly weavers and tailors, who turned flax (still a major product) into uniforms for the Ottoman army. From the seventeenth century until the end of Turkish rule, Samokov`s stature eclipsed that of Sofia and Kyustendil - a prestige that was raised even higher by the artistry of its woodworkers and painters, who decorated Bulgaria`s finest monasteries. The town`s working-class and artisan traditions also gave rise to one of Bulgaria`s most interesting experiments in socialism, the Samokov Commune (see box on facing page). Though foreign visi¬tors from the hotels of nearby Borovets are sometimes bussed into Samokov to wander around town during the day, the place isn`t really geared up for tourism-It`s best to digest the main sites and move on. The town centre There`s plenty of evidence of Samokov`s past in and around the town centre, although modern urban planning seems to have left ancient monuments stranded in a sea of crumbling paving stones. The town`s bus station lies immediately below the main square, where a large fountain or cheshma trickles water: a legacy of the Turks, who considered running water an inseparable part of civilized living-Close by stands the only one of Samokov`s once-numerous mosques to survive. the Bairakli dzhamiya (Mon & Thurs-Sun 9am-noon & l-5pm), preserved as a monument to the skills of local builders rather than as a place of worship-Commissioned by the pasha in 1840, the mosque`s design betrays Bulgarian inflU` ences: its roof-line mimics the shape of the kobilitsa; while the interior decoration relies upon plant motifs rather than arabesques, with a magnificent sunset beneath the dome - a piece of orthodox iconography. Just off the main square to the east, the History Museum (Mon-Sat 8am-noon & l-5pm) traces Samokov`s evolution up to the present day. The town`s industrial past is remembered in a sequence of models illustrating the mining and smelting of iron ore: one shows a gargantuan, waterwheel-powered set of bellows used to force air into the furnaces. Elsewhere the accent is on the various trades that made Samokov famous as a craft centre, with displays of ceramics, ironmon¬gery, engraving and printing - the latter started by one Nikola Karastoyanov, who opened Bulgaria`s first printing house here in the early nineteenth century. However, it`s the Samokov school of icon painters that receives the most attention, with pictures and personal effects of the Vienna-trained Hristo Dimitrov and his sons DimiMr and Zahari. The latter, subsequently known as Zahari Zograf, is remembered as the greatest and most prolific of Bulgarian nineteenth-century painters. A few of his personal belongings are here, and his gravestone, now so worn as to be virtually illegible, lies in the museum corridor. A gallery of `con painting upstairs contains many works by Zahari`s lesser-known colleagues, as well as examples of the growing number of secular subjects tackled by the same generation of painters: note especially the animated, Brueghelesque figures of Nikola Obrazopisov`s 1892 painting Peasants dancing the Horo. South of the main square: woodcarving, icons and frescos Ulitsa Boris Hadzhisotirov leads south from the main square towards the old Bulgarian residential quarter of town, and the Convent of Sveta Bogoroditsa at . N 77. In the porch of the convent church there`s a fine nineteenth-century painting of a winged Virgin Mary who extends her cloak to shelter the believers – the local priests and their flock - who herd beneath it. The church interior features colourful modern murals by local artists, imitating the folksy style of Zahari Zograf and his generation, while outside, a cobbled alley leads past a ramshackle collection of nunnery buildings and a beautifully maintained garden. A little way further on, the walled Church of Sveti Nikolai features cast-iron weathercocks on each of its three cupolas. Although such skilful wrought-ironwork embodied the fusion of art and indus¬try during the town`s commercial heyday, greater fame accrued to the Samokov school of woodcarvers. Collectively, this refers to local artisans (some of whom studied on Mt Athos in Greece in the late eighteenth century), in particular to a group formed in the early nineteenth century, primarily to make the iconostasis for Rila Monastery. Although executed in 1793, the iconostasis of Samokov`s Metropolitan Church on ul. Zahari Zograf, a couple of blocks south of Sveti Nikolai, is characteristic of their work. It`s covered with intricate figures linked by plant-like traceries, interspersed with rosettes - which sometimes took the form of a six-petalled narcissus. The church`s collection of icons present the Samokov painting school at its best, with Hristo Dimitrov`s Enthroned Jesus a particular highlight. Barring the occasional angel, Samokov woodcarvers generally avoided depict¬ing human figures, preferring to represent eagles, sparrowhawks, dragons, falcons and, above all, plants. A large iconostasis required several years work, and most woodcarvers probably undertook less ambitious commissions, such as fitting minderi and panelled ceilings in the homes of wealthy citizens. These still exist in a few old houses among the backstreets south of ul. Hadzhisotirov, which are known after the names of their onetime owners: Marikin, Ksenofontov, Obrazopisov and Kokoshov. Frescos by Samokov artists decorate the Belyova church, 4km south of town on the Borovets road, most notably the serried ranks of saints provided by Nikola Obrazopisov, the most sought-after of Samokov painters after Zahari Zograf himself. Practicalities Samokov`s only source of accommodation is the frugal but friendly Voennen klub or "Army Club" (0721/22405) just off the main square. Alternatives further out include a motel and campsite at Govedartsi, 11km along the road to Malyovitsa; and the Belchanitsa hostel, in the small spa resort of Belchinski Bani, 15km west of town, served by buses plying the Samokov-Dupnitsa route. Apart from a smattering of cafes, such as Papillon and Club 99 on the main square, eating and drinking opportunities in Samokov are scarce. Moving on from Samokov, frequent buses run to the package resort of Borovets, 10km south of town, and there are two services to Malyovitsa (the first leaves at 7.30am). For Rila Monastery and points west you need to take one of the six daily buses to Dupnitsa, 40km to the west, and change there. Dupnitsa-bound services go-by way of Sapareva Banya, Bulgaria`s most ferocious mineral baths. The hottest spring is fed by a super-heated geyser (102° C), which gushes 550 gallons of sulphurous water every minute. Borovets Near the turn of the century, Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria built three villas and a hunting lodge among the aromatic pine woods covering the northern slopes oj Mt Musala, a mile above sea level. The Mamrikoff family - after whom a verb meaning "to steal from an exalted position" was coined - and other wealthy folk did likewise, founding an exclusive colony, Tchamkoria, from which BOROVETS has developed. Effectively nationalized for the benefit of union and Party members in 1949, Borovets has become a major winter sports resort in recent years, increasingly geared towards package tourism. Competitively priced package holidays ensure that you get lodgings, skiing equipment and a high standard of tuition - though none of this is assured if you just turn up on spec. Also, most package operators offer lift-passes and "ski packs" (covering equipment rental) for a lower cost than you pay on the spot, making the package holidays even more worthwhile. Skiing From mid-November through until late April the fountains in the centre of Borovets are frozen into icy cones, and snow blankets everything. The resort is wholly given over to skiing, which can be practised as late as May, or even June, on the upper slopes. Off to the west of the Hotel Rila, the nursery slopes are served by ten drag lifts (9am-4.45pm), overlooked by a steep slope topped with Sitnyakovo, once one of Ferdinand`s villas (accessible by chair-lift; same hours). Experienced skiers favour the pistes on the western ridge of the mountain, which can be reached by a five-kilometre-long gondola lift (9am-4.30pm) running up to Yastrebets, the former royal hunting lodge (now a hotel with a cafe nearby). Another chair-lift serves the two ski jumps (55m & 75m long). There are also buses to the start of three cross-country runs (3km, 5km & 10km long), 2km away. Hiking Balkantourist, who have a desk in the Hotel Bor, organize various excursions, including hikes from Borovets during the summer months, which guarantee beds in mountain chalets if these are required. The Yastrebets chalet (a 3-hr walk or 20min by gondola from Borovets) is the starting point for the ascent of Mt Musala, the highest peak in Bulgaria (2925m), which takes about two and a half hours; get a weather forecast before you set off. From Mt Musala it`s six hours` trek southwards to the Boris Hadzhisotirov chalet, where one path leads down to Yakoruda on the rail line to Bansko; the other trail runs to the Fish Lakes (5hr). From here, having stayed overnight at the Ribni Ezera chalet, hikers usually push on to Rila Monastery next morning (5-6hr). Practicalities Borovets has seven 3-star hotels, all of which are grouped around the central bus terminal, but finding accommodation from December through to April can still be a problem if you`re not on a package or haven`t booked in advance. At any other time of year, there should be plenty of beds, although places may close for a while off-season. Remember, however, that rooms cost significantly more if you arrive on spec - about $25 each person for a double room - than if you come on a Package. Cheaper are the two "vacation villages" at the northeastern end of the resort: Yagoda, a huddle of wooden villas with pointed roofs, and Malina, where you can rent log cabins, many of which have saunas. There are a number of places to eat and drink in the vicinity of the Hotel Rila , incuding Franco`s Pizzeria and a curry restaurant. BJ`s disco bar is the liveliest nightspot (all drinks except beer half-price before 10pm), followed by the Black Tiger karaoke bar, and the White Magic, which plays ski videos. Bonkers is a raucous venue for (usually awful) local dance bands. Georgi and Lubomir Terziyski, two instructors at the Rila ski school, can arrange group parties, laying on home cooking and folk music to request, for around $5 - they`re contactable after work on «722/28590. Other diversions include ten-pin bowling, billiards and swimming at the Hotel Samokov, whose sauna (mixed, naked bath¬ing) is also open to non-residents. Last but not least, ski buffs can commission a commemorative video of their performance on the slopes - ask the proprietor at the White Magic bar. Malyovitsa Beyond Govedartsi to the southwest of Samokov, a branch road snakes up to MALYOVTTSA, 1750m above sea level. This is another ski resort with all mod cons, pistes, a slalom track and nursery slopes on the neighbouring peak from which its name derives. That said, Malyovitsa doesn`t really compare with Borovets as a skiing centre, but it`s a good starting point for walks in the mountains, particularly the trek to Rila Monastery. Climbers` huts and the trails themselves are marked on BTS maps of the Rila Mountains, which should be available from the Hotel Malyovitsa. The one-hour ascent to the Malyovitsa chalet above the resort constitutes the first leg of several hikes, for from here it`s seven hours` walk to the beautiful Seven Lakes (Sedemte ezera) cabin, or six hours to the Ivan Vazov lodge, depending on which trail you follow after the Urdin Lakes. Blasted crags surround another lake, Strashnoto ezero, which lies to the east of the Malyovitsa cabin. Refuges there, and to the north of the Dry Lake (Suhoto ezero), serve as way-stations along the route to the chalet beside the Fish Lakes: nine hours` hike in all. But the most popular trail leads south to Mt Malyovitsa and Rila Monastery. Climbing the 2729-metre mountain takes about three hours, an easier ascent than by the steeper southern face. Afterwards, follow the path west along the ridge before taking the trail branching left, which leads to the monastery in the thickly wooded valley below (a further 3-4hr). Dupnitsa It`s tempting to dismiss DUPNITSA (still known to many of the locals by its Communist-era name Stanke Dimitrov, or Stanketo for short) as a stepping-stone to other, more attractive destinations. The town`s only real claim to fame is its tobacco industry: every year some eight million kilos of the stuff pass through the town`s warehouses and processing plants, the river is tinted a nicotine yellow. and you can see huge quantities of the weed growing, or spread out to dry. throughout the surrounding countryside. Dupnitsa`s main square is a modern expanse of concrete on one side of which lurks a sixteenth-century mosque. An unassuming stump of red brick now used by local artists as a sales gallery, the simple domed structure has an elegance that displays Ottoman architecture`s debt to Byzantine church building. Immediately behind it is the Okoliiskata kashta (Mon-Sat lOam-noon & 2-5pm), a house oi the same period that subsequently served as the konak of the town`s Ottofflarl governor. It also serves as a venue for modern-art exhibitions. Beyond this there`s little else to see, but hiking trails into the B"^ Mountains begin just a few kilometres southeast of town at the village Bistritsa (accessible by regular bus). From there, the shortest most southerly trail leads to the Komsomolets chalet, while the right-hand route runs to the Otovitsa hut, and it`s about seven hours` walk, following the central path, up to another lodge, Ivan Vazov. The latter is well placed for various hikes - for exam¬ple to Mt Damga (lhr 30min), the Seven Lakes (2hr 30min), or Mt Malyovitsa (6hr 30min). The average altitude is well over 1524m, so be sure to ask about weather conditions and travel properly equipped. Practicalities The train and bus stations are a short distance north of the main square. In the unlikely event you should wish to stay, there`s an austere but acceptable 2-star hotel, the Rila (^0701/25015; ®), in the town centre, and a nice restaurant the Panorama, crowning the hilltop park which overlooks the main square. There are three daily direct buses from Dupnitsa to Rila Monastery; should you miss them, you can catch a bus to Rila village and change there. Boboshevo Travellers heading south might consider a stopover at BOBOSHEVO, a village 3km west of the rail line, where trains halt briefly. Cherry orchards abound here, while during autumn the vines overhanging the streets are heavy with grapes destined for Boboshevo`s extensive wine cellars. The monastery of Sveti Ditnitar contains some fifteenth-century frescos, while paintings by Stanislav Dospevski can be seen in the Church of the Virgin. Twelve kilometres from the Boboshevo turn-off, the main road encounters Kocherinovo, the start of the road to Rila Monastery. Rila VIonastery As the best known of Bulgaria`s monasteries - justly famed for both its architec¬ture and its mountainous setting - Rila Monastery receives a stream of visitors, roost of whom now arrive by bus or car rather than on foot or by mule, as did Pilgrims in the old days. Although most visitors come on packaged day trips, it is Perfectly possible to get here independently, and the abundance of trails leading off into the densely forested hills make an extended stay more than worthwhile. Though the monastery gates are open daily from dawn till dusk, some of the attractions within the complex keep more restricted hours. If you want to see (or take part in) a service, morning prayers start at 8am, evening prayers at 5pm. Arnve on October 19 and you can enjoy the celebrations for the feast day of John of Rila. The road to the monastery The single road leading to the Rila Monastery passes first through Rila village, a sleepy community with a couple of cafes, a food store and a hotel, the 2-star Orbita (093754/2167). However, the village is 27km short of the monastery itself, so can in no sense be used as a base for sightseeing. Once beyond the village, the road enters the increasingly narrow valley of the foaming River Rilska, fed by innumerable springs from the surrounding pine- and beech-covered mountains, beneath peaks flecked with snow. Even today there is a palpable sense of isolation, and it`s easy to see why John of Rila {Ivan Rilski) chose this valley to escape the savagery of feudal life and the laxity of the established monasteries at the end of the ninth century. To disciples drawn to his hermit`s cell, John preached that "he who would be chief among you must be as he that doth serve"; and while monasticism was condemned as escapism and selfishness by Presbyter Cosmas - the scourge of the Bogomils (see p. 178) - the hermitage became an important spiritual centre after John`s death in 946. The monastery, established in 1335, forged links with others in the Balkans and played a major role in Orthodox Christianity throughout the Middle Ages. The monastery patriotic duty: urged on by Neofit Rilski (see p. Ill), public donations were plenti¬ful and master craftsmen such as Aleksii Rilets and Pavel Milenkov gave their services for free. Work continued in stages throughout the nineteenth century, and the east wing was built as recently as 1961 to display the monastery`s treas¬ures, which UNESCO has recognized as part of the World Cultural Heritage, like the old monastery, it`s ringed by mighty walls, giving it the outward appear¬ance of a fortress. Once you get through the west gate, however, this impression is dispelled by the harmonious beauty of the interior, which even the milling crowds don`t seriously mar. Graceful arches surrounding the flagstoned courtyard support tiers of monas¬tic cells, and stairways ascend to top-floor balconies which - viewed from below -resemble the outstretched petals of flowers. Bold red stripes and black-and-white check patterns enliven the facade, contrasting with the sombre mountains behind, and creating a visual harmony between the cloisters and the church within. The monastery church The monastery church has undulating lines, combining red and black designs with arches and a diversity of cupolas. Richly coloured frescos shelter beneath the porch and within the interior - a mixture of scenes from rural life and the usual Orthodox iconography, executed by muralists from Razlog, Bansko and Founded 4km from St John`s original hermitage, Rila Monastery was plundered during the eighteenth century, and repairs had hardly begun when the whole structure burned down in 1833. Its rebuilding was presented as a religious and patriotic duty: urged on by Neofit Rilski (see p. Ill), public donations were plenti¬ful and master craftsmen such as Aleksii Rilets and Pavel Milenkov gave their services for free. Work continued in stages throughout the nineteenth century, and the east wing was built as recently as 1961 to display the monastery`s treas¬ures, which UNESCO has recognized as part of the World Cultural Heritage, like the old monastery, it`s ringed by mighty walls, giving it the outward appear¬ance of a fortress. Once you get through the west gate, however, this impression is dispelled by the harmonious beauty of the interior, which even the milling crowds don`t seriously mar. Graceful arches surrounding the flagstoned courtyard support tiers of monas¬tic cells, and stairways ascend to top-floor balconies which - viewed from below -resemble the outstretched petals of flowers. Bold red stripes and black-and-white check patterns enliven the facade, contrasting with the sombre mountains behind, and creating a visual harmony between the cloisters and the church within. The monastery church The monastery church has undulating lines, combining red and black designs with arches and a diversity of cupolas. Richly coloured frescos shelter beneath the porch and within the interior - a mixture of scenes from rural life and the usual Orthodox iconography, executed by muralists from Razlog, Bansko and Samokov, including nineteenth-century Bulgaria`s greatest artist Zahari Zograf. Scenes on the outside of the church include archetypal images of cataclysm: the fall of Constantinople, various apocalypses, and visions of hell, many of which are peopled by the bat-winged curly-tailed demons that seem to play such a promi¬nent part in the nineteenth-century Bulgarian imagination. The wrongdoings of sinners are portrayed with a love of grotesque detail; one picture shows rich men munching fine food around a table, cooly ignoring the pleas of a begging leper who is in the process of having his legs bitten off by dogs. Inside the church, the iconostasis is particularly splendid: almost 10m wide and covered by a mass of intricate carvings and gold leaf, it`s one of the finest achieve¬ments of the Samokov woodcarvers. A small chapel on the right of the nave as you enter contains the heart of Tsar Boris III, buried beneath a simple grey tablet. Boris died of a mystery illness after a visit to Berlin in 1944, prompting many to speculate that he`d been poisoned by his Nazi hosts. After 1945, the Bulgarian Communists scattered his remains in the Iskar gorge in order to prevent his grave from becoming the focus of anti-Communist sentiment, but the former monarch`s principal organ survived, to be ceremonially interred here in August 1993. Beside the church rises Hrelyo`s Tower, the sole remaining building from the fourteenth century, which you can ascend in order to visit the top-floor chapel. Its founder - a local noble - apocryphally took refuge as a monk here and was supposedly strangled in the tower; hence the inscription upon it: "Thy wife sobs and grieves, weeping bitterly, consumed by sorrow". Other parts of the monastery Huge cauldrons that were once used to feed pilgrims occupy the old kitchen on the ground floor of the north wing, where the soot-encrusted ceiling has the shape and texture of a gigantic termites` nest. Various rooms await inspection on the floors above, where the spartan refectory contrasts with the more salubrious, panelled guest rooms, named after the towns which endowed them. The ethnographic collection on the second floor of the north wing (daily 8am-5pm) is most notable for its carpets and silverware, while beneath the modern east wing there`s a wealth of objects in the treasury (same times). These include icons and medieval gospels; Rila`s charter from Tsar Ivan Shishman, writ¬ten on leather and sealed with gold in 1378; the door of the original monastery church; and a miniature cross made by the monk Raphael during the 1790s. Composed of 140 biblical tableaux containing more than 1500 human figures (each the size of a grain of rice), this took twelve years for Raphael to carve with a needle, and cost him his eyesight. Around the monastery From the monastery`s eastern gate, a path descends towards the river towards the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin, a decrepit late eighteenth-century structure surrounded by the graves of several generations of monks. The chapel on the church`s upper storey is richly decorated with scenes from the life of the Virgin. A painting in the porch shows the Archangel Michael stomping on the body of a bearded wrongdoer. Look out for the kostnitsa or bone house on the ground floor, housing the skulls of former monks. Rila Monastery is the starting point for numerous hikes (see box on facing page) One walk which can be done as a short excursion from the monastery follows the trail to the cave of St John of Rila (2-hr return trip). The trail begins by the road about 2km beyond the monastery`s east gate: a fairly obvious path bears left up the hillside about 100m beyond the Bachkova cheshma restaurant. It then gradually climbs the wooded hillside before reaching the Chapel of Sveti Luka after about twenty minutes. The chapel, named after a nephew of St John of Rila who acted as the ageing hermif s servant, contains frescos depicting St John of Rila together with the three other hermit-superstars of the Bulgarian-Macedonian border regions: Gavril of Leshnovo, Prohor of Pchinya, and Ioakim of Osogovo. Twenty minutes further on lies the Chapel of St John of Rila, built into the rock next to the "Miracle Hole" or cave where he spent his last twenty years. Traditionally, pilgrims were required to enter the hole before proceeding to the monastery, and the conscience-smitten were regularly unable to do so. These people were judged to be sinners and forced to go home to repent for a year before coming back to Rila. Blagoevgrad The Rila Mountains, the Pirin range can be approached from two directions. If you head down the Struma Valley towards the Greek border you`ll pass «rough the towns of Blagoevgrad and Sandanski. Road and train communications with Pirin`s eastern flank tend to gravitate towards Plovdiv and other towns in south-eastern Bulgaria, although some buses do make their way across the Predel pass to the village of Bansko, the region`s best base for hiking and skiing. Though neither Blagoevgrad nor Sandanski, the main towns of the Pirin range, is much to get worked-up about, should you feel like taking a break, there could be worse stopovers. They both provide access to the Pirin`s western foothills, and the latter is also near the strange rock formations of the "sandstone sea" around Melnik. Administrative capital of the Pirin region, BLAGOEVGRAD`s concrete suburbs and factories suggest a workaday town with little to tempt you away from the highway. Nevertheless, the town`s Varosha - old quarter - provides some incen¬tive to linger, and the establishment here in 1991 of the brand-new, English-language American University in Bulgaria gives the town added vitality. Both the train and the bus stations are 2km west of town on bul. Dimitar Solunski. Head east from here along bul. Kiril i Metodii and you`ll soon hit pi. Alen Mak, a modern, flagstoned square adorned with flowerbeds and fountains, overlooked by the American University. Two more set-piece squares follow in quick succession, before the cafe-lined ul. Nikola Kalapchev heads down towards the River Bistritsa. Here, a bridge crosses over to the Varosha, an area of preserved nineteenth-century houses centred around a brightly painted National Revival-style church. Late nineteenth-century frescos include a Last Judgement in the porch, and several scenes from the gospels in the nave. A nearby museum (Mon-Fri 8am-noon & 2-6pm) sheds light on local history, with displays of folk costumes and craft tools. Previously known as Gorna Dzhumaya, Blagoevgrad was an important crafts` town, predominantly inhabited by Turks from the sixteenth century until their mass flight in 1912, after which Bulgarian peasants and displaced Macedonians moved in. Since 1950, when it was renamed in honour of the founder of Bulgarian Marxism, Dimitar Blagoev, Blagoevgrad has switched to producing textiles and loudspeakers - and, above all, tobacco. Practicalities There are two central hotels: the 3-star Alen Mak, bul. Kiril i Metodii («073/ 23031; ©), is the town`s showpiece establishment and a little on the expensive side; the 2-star Hotel Bor, Park Loven Dom («073/22491; ®), is a less salubrious option, although it does offer a panoramic view of the town and a lively disco. The Riltsi motel («073/20715; ®) lies 4km north of town on the main Sofia-Kulata highway. Best place to eat in town is the restaurant in the Hotel Alen Mak- where you`ll also find a late-night bar with cabaret show. SIMITLI The Struma Valley beyond Blagoevgrad is one of the most arid regions m Bulgaria, with terraces of sandy scrubland hovering above the more fertile valley floor. Fields of tobacco line the route during the fifty-kilometre journey south to the small thermal spa of SIMITLI, just beyond which a branch road heads on towards Bansko (p. 108). Once past Simitli the southward route becomes more scenic, whether you follow the road through the Kresna gorge or take the train, which forges its way through thirteen tunnels before reaching Sandanski. From Blagoevgrad buses also run up to BISTRITSA village, whence it`s about eight hours` walk east to the Makedoniya chalet in the Pirin Mountains Sandanski A modernized town producing cigarettes and hothouse vegetables, SANDANSKI is believed to have been the birthplace of Spartacus, who led the great slave revolt against the Roman Empire in the first century BC. The revolt originated in Sicily, where Spartacus - like others of the Thracian Medi tribe -had been deported to labour on the island`s big agricultural estates following the Roman conquest of Thrace. You can see the Spartacus monument from the highway, but most people come for the Sandanski Hydro, east of the centre. The largest health complex in the Balkans, the hydro boasts hot mineral baths, 4-star lodgings and diverse treat ments (including massage and electro-acupuncture). There`s been a spa hers since Roman times, and it was known to the Slavs as Sveti Vrach, or "Blessed Doctor". Sveti Vrach languished during the Middle Ages, since the early Bulgars hardly swore by baths, but was revived as a provincial chiflik under Turkish rule rivalling Melnik as a market town during the nineteenth century, when it hosted a great fair every Monday. The town`s current name, dating from 1949, derives from Yane Sandanski, nineteenth-century Macedonian freedom fighter. The Town Sandanski`s train station is 4km west of town, but services are met by a bus into the centre. If you walk a couple of blocks uphill from the bus station you come to ul. Blagoev, the sterile, pedestrianized main street. A ten-minute walk east along this will take you past a few Roman and Byzantine ruins to the town`s archeologi-cal Museum (Tues-Sun 9am-noon & 2-6pm), built over a late Roman/early Byzantine villa and featuring a walk-round display of the floor mosaics found in situ. The upper floor is filled with funerary stoneware from the necropolis of nearby Muletarovo, including the small sarcophagus of a child ringed with bull-and ram-head reliefs. Votive tablets to various deities abound; most of them feature either Zeus and Hera or a hunter figure presumed to be Artemis - all of them chiselled out in a vigorous, almost naive style which suggests that Desudava (as ancient Sandanski was known) was always a predominantly Thracian, rather than a Roman or Hellenic, town. A couple of minutes beyond the museum lies an area of parkland and well-tended ornamental gardens surround¬ing the Hotel Sandanski. There`s a boating lake with pedalos, and pathways lead¬ing up into the neighbouring hills. Practicalities The town has just two hotels to choose from: the Spartak on ul. Blagoev just above the bus station (0746/2405), and the Sandanski, the luxury spa hotel at the town`s eastern end (0746/2196). A kvartirno byuro next door to the Spartak may be able to help with private rooms. The main street is lined with pavement cafes and cheap restaurants, and the Hotel Sandanski has a late bar and disco. Bansko Bansko, the nicest of the small Pirin mountain towns, can be reached by traw from Septemvri or Velingrad, or by bus from Blagoevgrad or Sim? which follows the valley down to the River Gradevska that divides the Rila and Pirin ranges. Cultivable land is so scarce in this area that there`s just one village between Simitli and the next town, Razlog, 36km away on the other side of the 1140-metre-high Predel Pass. From here it`s just a short bus ride on to Bansko. Winter lasts for almost half the year in BANSKO, a town of 12,000 people nestle among greenery in the shadow of ice-capped Mt Vihren, the highest peak in t! Pirin range. In recent years Bansko has shrewdly promoted itself as a winter sports resort, but its attractions aren`t limited to skiing. The atmosphere is mellow yet invigorating, and the tightly knit community is proud of its achieve¬ments. Founded by exiled clans in the fifteenth century, Bansko has lived by trade and hard graft - growing tobacco at an altitude of 1000m above sea level - and has the lowest divorce rate in Bulgaria. This might be a result of sobriety, for Bansko`s women had all the pubs shut down between 1946 and 1947, but most locals attribute it to their clannishness, and believe that divorces would be rarer still were it not for the presence of 2000 "outsiders" - immigrants from other Bulgarian towns. Unlike many Bulgarian towns, Bansko`s largely modernized centre co-exists easily with the older quarters, a maze of cobbled lanes where the timber-framed «One houses hide behind walls with stout double doors, as if built for siege. During the centuries of Ottoman rule, Christian households were required to Provide "hospitality" to travellers bearing the sultan`s firman (or seal of authorization), and worse still, were preyed upon by the rapacious Bashibazouks "Tegular Ottoman troops charged with keeping the native Christian population quiet. Today Bansko is still a traditional agricultural centre, its narrow street jammed with goats and the horse-drawn carts of farmers bringing in produc from the outlying fields. Skiing is practised just outside town from Decembe until March: facilities include one 1500-metre ski run with chair-lifts and tw0 300-metre practice slopes with ski-tows. Instructors speak various foreign languages (although Bansko has yet to become a centre of package tourism), there`s a range of equipment for hire - for details of this, check at the Tourist Service Centre (see below). Arrival and accommodation Both bus and train stations are on the northern fringes of town, from where it`s a short walk to pl. Vaptsarov. A left turn here brings you shortly to the Tourist Service Centre, which has a range of private rooms in Bansko and may also have up-to-date info on accommodation currently being built outside the town for winter holidaymakers. This is also the place to head if you`re intending to do any hiking in the Pirin Mountains (see p. 112). Immediately opposite the office is the 3-sta.r Hotel Pirin, ul Dimitrov 8 (07443/2536), although if you`re looking for a more intimate family-run hotel, try the comfy Dzkana, ul. Balgariya 67 (07443/2807); or the more frugal Ritoni, ul. Predel 9 (07443/3638), where guests have the use of a kitchen. There`s also hostel-style dorm accom¬modation at the fairly grotty turisticheska spalnya at ul. Vaptsarov 12 (07443/ 2271). Around ploshtad Nikola Vaptsarov Bansko is centred around the modern pi. Nikola Vaptsarov, with the largely pedestrianized maze of the old town lying to the south. On one corner of the main square stands the Nikola Vaptsarov Museum (Tues-Sat 9am-noon & 2-5pm), honouring the local-born revolutionary poet. An engineer by training, he shared the Futurists` enthusiasm for the machine age and joined the wartime resistance in the courage of his Communist convictions. Vaptsarov`s final poem was composed in a Sofia prison as he awaited execution: The fight is hard and pitiless The fight is epic, as they say: I fell. Another takes my place – Why single out a name! After the firing squad - the worms. Thus does the simple logic go. But in the storm we`ll be with you My people, for we loved you so. A few steps south of here is the smaller pi. Vazrazhdane, dominated by a statu of an even more renowned local, Otets (Father) Paisii. Although the monastery preserved religious arts and Orthodoxy, and Bulgars nursed memories of resl tance with their songs of Haiduks and King Marko, the history of Bulgaria beto the conquest was almost submerged by 1762, when Bansko-born Paisii Hilendar (1722-73) completed his seminal Slav-Bulgarian History. Started a? 1745, when Paisii became a monk at the monastery on Mt Athos, it both exal past glories and the task of National Revival. Circulated in manuscript form decades before its publication, Paisii`s history inspired generations of Bulgarian nationalists. Neofit Rilski and the Church of Sveta Troitsa Just above pi. Vazrazhdane is the Church of Sveta Troitsa, the existence of which owes a great deal to the efforts of another patriot associated with Bansko, Neofit Rilski. Born in 1793, Neofit was a key figure in the nineteenth-century resurgence of Bulgarian education and church life, in the face of Turkish restric¬tions and Greek influence, and led the campaign to restore Rila Monastery and build the local church. To accomplish this required a bribe to the governor and to the official witness of the "discovery" of an icon on the site (which qualified it as "holy ground" suitable for a Christian place of worship). A wall was then raised to conceal the townsfolks` enlargement of the church beyond the size set by Turkish clerks - for which the mayor of Bansko was jailed for five years in Thessaloniki. One monument in the churchyard remembers Peyu Yavorov, poet and Voyvoda, or "war leader", who celebrated Bansko`s liberation from the Turks on October 5, 1912, proclaiming "Throw away your fezzes, brothers! From today you are free Bulgarians". Behind the church is the Neofit Rilski House-Museum (Tues-Sat 9am-noon & 2-5pm), with re-created period rooms and a display illustrating Rilski`s career. The Icon Museum and old village houses Near the northern end of pl. Vazrazhdane is an Icon Museum (Tues-Sat 9am-noon & 2-5pm) grouped around the galleried courtyard of a former nunnery. The works on display illustrate the careers of Bansko`s nineteenth-century icon paint¬ers - a school largely centred around the Vienna-educated artist Toma Vishanov, who together with pupils Dimitar and Simeon Molerov travelled from village to village decorating the region`s churches. One highlight of the museum is an anonymous Wheel of Time, in which everyday village scenes are encircled by portrayals of the different ages of man. The nearby Velyanova kashta (or Velyanov House) at Velyan Ognev 5 is a typical stone-built house now open to the public, with nineteenth-century furnish¬ings and rugs on display inside. The Hadzhivalchova kashta (or Hadzhi Valcho House) at no. 11 remembers the late eighteenth-century Bansko merchant Hadzhi Valcho, who exploited the village`s position midway between Danube and Aegean to build up a minor trading empire, with offices in Vienna. Believed to have been Neofit Rilski`s uncle, Valcho was a major patron of the arts (his wealth was instrumental in encouraging the early flowering of the Bansko icon school), and donated large sums to both Rila and Zografski monasteries - the latter the Bulgarian foundation on Mt Athos in Greece. On the other side of town, just east of the train and bus stations, the town cemetery holds the early nineteenth-century Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa: an atmospheric, semi-submerged structure, although most of its treasures - includ¬es the central doors of the church`s iconostasis, decorated with paintings by Toma Vishanov - have been moved to the Icon Museum. Eating and drinking Places to eat in Bansko include the Orlovo Gnezdo on the main square, the cheap-but-cheerful Steakhouse on ul. Ivan Kozarev, or the restaurant of the Hotel town`s ambitions as a winter holiday centre, there is as yet very little in the way of apres-ski. Numerous small cafes line the main street, but most young locals head for the Momini Dvori bar on pl. Vaptsarov. Dobrinishte Both Bansko and Dobrinishte (6km east by bus or train) serve as starting points for excursions into the Pirin Mountains, Bulgaria`s wildest range. The heart of the massif consists of 45 peaks, all of which are more than 2590m tall, snow-capped for much of the year and subject to such powerful winds and violent storms that the early Slavs were convinced that this was the abode of the Thunder God, Perun. Pure water tarns and short-lived wildflowers abound in the highland valleys, and the slopes are a botanist`s delight, with clumps of Scots, Corsican, Macedonian and white pine. The highest peaks and most of the lakes are in the northern Pirin, which is criss-crossed with hiking trails between hizhi - simple hostels with rooms and bunk beds (and perhaps food and drink). Hiking in the Pirin Mountains If you`re considering hiking, the first requirement is the map published by the BTS - clear enough, although the text is in Bulgarian only, and available from Bansko`s Tourist Service Centre, where it`s also important to make enquiries about staying in hizha - and to reserve beds in advance, if possible. Besides this, stout boots, warm clothing, a sleeping bag and food are essential. You can camp at designated spots (not within nature reserves), but only during the summer; inexperienced hikers should avoid high peaks and snowy ground and, idealy, join a group familiar with the mountains. Beginning from Bansko, take the minor road heading directly south, which forks after 6km. The right-hand, better surfaced fork leads to the Bunderitsa hut 8km away, and on past the Baikushev Fir - a mighty tree 1200 years old - to the larger yihren chalet, 2km on. From here on the scenery is magnificent, whether you make the two-and-a-half hour walk northwards to Mt Vihren (2914m), Bulgaria`s second highest peak, or trek for six hours in the opposite direction via Lake Tevetno to the gegovitsa chalet or the larger Yane Sandanski - which serves meals and attracts weekend hikers from Sandanski, 18km to the southwest. A third trail from the yihren chalet runs east, past two lakes and MtTodorin (2746m) to the Demyanitsa cabin four and a half hours away, which awaits people who`ve conquered the eleven-kilometre ascent by way of the left-hand fork of the road leaving Bansko. Heading south from Demyanitsa, the second turn-off to the east leads to the Balyavishki Lakes, while the main trail reaches Lake Tevetno in three hours. If the weather`s good and there`s time to spare, consider pushing on from there to reach the Pirin or Begovitsa chalets (3-4hr), or head north from Balyavishko Ezero to the Bezbog hut You can, alternatively, start from Dobrinishte, from where it`s 11km by moun¬tain road (petering out into a track) to the Gotse Delchev chalet, and a further two and a half hours` walk to the Bezbog cabin - whence you can hike to most of the places mentioned above. Few foreigners go further south into the Pirin range, although there are regular buses down the Mesta valley from Bansko and Dobrinishte towards the small town of Gotse Delchev. The villages of Dolen and Kovachevitsa, attractive hill settlements in the area where the Pirin Mountains fade into the western Rhodopes, are both accessible from here. Gotse Delchev Known as Nevrokop before adopting the name of Macedonia`s greatest revolu¬tionary leader (see opposite), GOTSE DELCHEV is one of the Pirin region`s most pleasant towns. Although lacking in specific sights, it`s suffused with a relax¬ing provincial air, with grazing cows stalking the bus station forecourt and tobacco leaves hanging out to dry in the gardens of downtown houses. Immediately outside the bus station, a red-brick synagogue (long since converted into private apartments) stands as a testament to the town`s cosmopoli¬tan past; from here ul. Solunska leads east to the town`s main square, site of two undistinguished nineteenth-century churches. The town`s main shopping street, ul. Targovska, heads north, a quaint cobbled boulevard lined with cherry trees and crumbling turn-of-the-century houses. After a hundred metres or so ul. Botev branches off towards the History Museum (Tues-Sat l0 am-noon & 2-6pm), a modest collection of remains from the ancient city of Nicopolis ad Nestrum, a staging point on the Roman road from Constantinople to the Adriatic. Meagre ruins can still be seen among the tobacco fields 8km east of town, but they hardly merit a special visit. Practicalities There are two hotels in Gotse, the Nevrokop on the main square (©), one of post-war Bulgaria`s most run-down 2-star high-rise hotels; and the smaller, infinitely prefeable Malamova Kashta, in a restored nineteenth-century mansion at ul. Hristo Botev 25 (0751/24074). Although pretty drab in the winter months, Gotse comes to life in the summer when local residents flock to the many outdoor eating and drinking venues that line the streets in the centre. The best of the restaurants is in the courtyard of the Malamova Kashta. Of the cafes, Gradina on ul. Tsaritsa Ioanna is a lively outdoor place with cheesy live music; there are so many similarr establishments that you can simply wander the streets and take your pick. The Greek frontier is just 20km south from here, and a new border post will open soon; bus links with Dhrama, the first big town on the other side, are sure to follow. For the time being, however, Gotse Delchev is a bit cut off from the main southbound routes, and moving on can be inconvenient. A minor road runs over the mountains to Kulata in the Struma Valley, and there`s a 7.20am bus to Petrich 45km to the west, but most of Gotse Delchev`s bus services head back towards towns like Bansko and Blagoevgrad to the north. Kovachevitsa Infrequent bus services run from Gotse Delchev into the wild mountain regions of the western Rhodopes, passing two particularly beautiful villages that can be treated as day trips. Two daily buses head for the highland settlement of KOVACHEVITSA 25km to the north, an architectural reserve renowned for its stone-built houses. |
Property in Bulgaria - Info on Bulgaria - The Regions - The Southwest
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