Belogradchik, the red stone fortress from the bottom of the sea (Bulgaria)
A long, long time ago, when the mountains were just beginning to fold, and the sea was starting to retreat, strange contours rose from the water, lumpy and plump, like buxom clay sea creatures. In no time - a few dozens million years - they strengthened and shaped up, standing tall and slender in the heat and wind, albeit still looking a little funny.
Because of the natural shapes which provided shelter and vantage point, a fortress started to develop, first with some walls here and there, then fortifications and garrisons, until it became a real bastion. An evolution which lasted the better part of two millennia, from antiquity to the late stages of the Ottoman empire. It was last used for military purposes in 1885.
From the top of the red rocks (colour due to iron oxides) of Belogradchik fortress you can see the Old Mountain (Stara Planina, the Balkans), the surrounding district of Vidin and, piercing the forest here and there, more of the strange shapes which contributed to the popularity of the area.
If the geologic history of the fortress doesnβt sate your appetite for magic and mythology, just look carefully at some of the protruding rocky structures. The svelte shapes are easy to anthropomorphize.
Does this rock look like a woman with an infant? It could be Madonna, a former nun banished by the monastery along with her love child and castigated by the whole community, until divine justice roared and thundered and turned them all to stone.
Look around and youβll also see the petrified Rider and the Monks, still huddled together in terror, and many others, coming alive in their own legends.
While wondering among the rocks and ogling the local flora and mini fauna (and wondering what kind of maxi fauna was just growling in the bushes), we stumbled upon a forgotten place, the ruin of a summer cinema or open-air theater. It was built in 1965 , its name was βMushroomsβ / βGΕbiteβ and it used to fit 1000 people. Last summer (2020) they started to renovate it, so donβt go looking for the ruins of the forest cinema anymore. Maybe you can still find the feral cat.
If you stop in Belogradchik to visit the mountain fortress from the bottom of the sea, make sure you get there before mid-afternoon, it closes early (5 PM).
If you want to stay overnight, plan wisely. We had found a wonderful little home run pension right under the foot of the fortress. At the top of the hill. Where no tarator, banitsa or shopska salat roams the land. They all roamed the land at the bottom of the hill, which we dutifully climbed up and down, and up and down again.
The food was excellent, by the way. Due to the border proximity, thereβs a winning Serbian-Bulgarian mix in the local cuisine. (Giant pljeskavica and hot urnebes, your memory will live forever, as we slowly scramble uphill like a stuffed overweight Sisyphus.)
Check out the photo gallery or the slideshow below for more images from Belogradchik fortress in Bulgaria:
