Belogradchik

Belogradchik [ ˌ bɛɫoɡrɐtʃik ] ( Bulg Белоградчик, also Belogradschik ) is a small town in northwestern Bulgaria. The city's name derives from Belo = White and degree = castle (now outweighs the importance of: City ) from. The name means something like White Castle and plays on the appearance of the fortress on. The city is located about 180 km north-west of Sofia, 70 km north-west of Montana, 50 km south-west of Vidin. The nearest rail connection is located in 12 km south-west to Oreschez.

Geography

The city lies at 520 m above sea level. NN between the two Balkan Mountains to the corresponding ridges Veneza and Vedernik. In the vicinity of the city there is an approximately 10 km long and 2 km wide rocky area with over 200 smaller rock towers of red conglomerate rock.

Attractions

• Kaleto fortress, the fortress is located in the southwest of the city (Kale is the Turkish word for fortress )
• Natural History Museum, it is situated south-east out of the village
• Magura Cave, a show cave of about 2.5 km length
• Historical Museum, the home of the family Panovi ( architectural monument of 1810)
• Observatory with one of the largest telescopes in Bulgaria
• St. George's Church, built in 1868.

History

Already in the first century, the Romans built a fort here in the rocks. This was destroyed several times by the Byzantines, Bulgarians and Turks and rebuilt. The city at the foot of the fortress was first mentioned in documents in 1454. The present fortress was built during the Turkish rule in 1850 under Sultan Abdülmecit I.. The exploitation of the indigenous population resulted in the same year to a peasant revolt which was however defeated. In today's time, Belogradchik increasingly developed into a tourist center. Since the sixties of the 20th century, the surrounding rocks for the Saxon climbing were developed.