Walking in Bulgaria's National Parks. Julian Perry
summer. Temperatures rarely rise too high to become uncomfortable for walking, and rain, when it falls, tends to be in the form of a short sharp downpour, which often quickly gives away to another prolonged spell of fine dry weather.
In the high mountains, June and July are wonderfully fresh and green, with the alpine flowers at their best, though you may find late-lying snow patches a hindrance on some of the highest peaks and passes, particularly their shaded northern flanks. August and September offer long days and stable sunny weather, ideal for major hikes, while October tends to be great for photography, the air crisp and clear, the deciduous forests turning gold, and perhaps a dusting of early snow on the highest tops to add some extra contrast.
Biodiversity
Located as it is, in the far southeastern corner of Europe, Bulgaria straddles the boundaries between the Central European forest, Eurasian steppe and Mediterranean bio-geographic zones, and is thus one of the most important countries on the continent in terms of its biodiversity.
Bulgaria is blessed with a unique natural heritage and an amazing variety of landscapes and eco-systems. To the east lies the Black Sea, with its rocky capes, sandy beaches and sheltered bays, while to the north is the Danube, fringed by lakes and marshes, and bordered by an ever-alternating succession of low hills, elevated plateaus and broad steppe-like plains. But it is the majestic mountains that dominate Bulgaria, forming the physical heartland of the country. There you will find rugged alpine peaks and ridges with deep caves and precipitous gorges, surrounded by an extensive cloak of sub-alpine pastures, scrubs and peat-bogs. These then give way to ancient coniferous and beech forests, and lower still a zone of oak and hornbeam, as well as lush flower-filled meadows that surround small rural settlements where the local people still live a traditional pastoral life.
Because of its location, varied climate, relief and geological structure, Bulgaria has an outstandingly rich flora, with more than 3900 species of higher plants, made up of Central European, Carpathian, Mediterranean and Pontic species, as well as many unique Balkan and Bulgarian endemics which constitute about eight per cent of Bulgaria’s flora. There are also some 52 species of ferns, 4000 species of algae, 670 species of moss and 600 species of lichen.
The fauna too is extremely interesting and diverse, a meeting place for European and Asiatic species, including 100 of mammal, of which 33 are bats, 421 of bird, 207 of fish, some 37 of reptile, 18 of amphibian, and an estimated 27,000 species of invertebrate, which includes over 200 species of butterfly and 68 species of dragonfly.
Sokolna Reserve information boards (Walk 4)
Protected Territories
Bulgaria has a long tradition of nature conservation. Its first protected area, the Silkosiya Reserve was created in the Strandzha Mountains in 1931. Three years later, in 1934, a People’s Park was established on the Vitosha Mountains, becoming the first such ‘national nature park’ on the Balkan Peninsula. Today, Bulgaria’s protected areas encompass approximately 4.3 per cent of the country’s territory, and include 90 nature reserves, 10 nature parks and three national parks. It is these three national parks – Pirin, Rila and Central Balkan – that are the focus of this guidebook, for they not only represent some of the finest wilderness regions in Europe, they are also conveniently accessible, being crisscrossed with a well-marked and well-maintained network of hiking trails.
History
Situated at the edge of Europe, Bulgaria has long been an important eastern gateway to the continent, and a melting pot for a range of different peoples and cultures, all of whom have left their mark on the country, and helped to shape its development and rich historical legacy.
The earliest traces of human life on Bulgarian territory date back to Palaeolithic (Stone Age) times, and archaeologists from the Bulgarian Academy of Science are currently investigating a cave encampment in northwestern Bulgaria, which has been dated to between 1.6 million and 1.4 million years ago. This has led to claims that the initial ‘conquest’ of the European continent by humans was through what are today Bulgarian lands. Later, during the Neolithic (New Stone Age) and Eneolithic (Stone-Copper Age) periods, people began to settle in the plains, cultivating the fertile soil and domesticating livestock.
By the Middle Bronze Age, about 2000BC, a distinct people, known as the Thracians, had become established. An amalgamation of independent tribes rather than a united kingdom, they were not only farmers and shepherds, but also accomplished craftsmen, producing what are today world-renowned golden treasures. However, during the fourth century BC, Philip II of Macedon temporarily over-ran the region, and after another brief spell of independence, the Thracian tribes were finally subjugated by the Romans in the first century AD. Eventually, during the fourth century, and after the separation of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires, the territory of present day Bulgaria fell under Byzantine control.
During the sixth century the Slavic tribes started to penetrate into the region and, despite the efforts of the Byzantine Empire to prevent them, by the beginning of the seventh century the region had become settled with a new Slavic population, which quickly merged with and assimilated what remained of the original Thracian inhabitants. The Slavs were then followed by new invaders, the Bulgars, a Turkic people from Central Asia who by 681 had pushed south of the Danube and established the First Bulgarian Kingdom (681–1018) under the leadership of Khan Asparuh (681–700).
Bulgaria’s golden age
A couple of centuries later, during the reign of Tsar Boris I (852–899), Christianity was officially adopted as the state religion, and a new Slavonic alphabet was created, enabling Bulgaria to become the leading centre of Slavonic literature and culture. This period of development reached its zenith in the reign of Tsar Simeon I (893–927), the so-called ‘golden age’ of both Bulgarian culture and territorial expansion.
A period of decline then set in, until finally in 1018 Byzantium managed to achieve its long-dreamed-of goal, the re-annexation of Bulgaria. This lasted for just over 150 years, until, following an uprising led by the brothers Petar and Asen, Byzantine control was overthrown, and the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (1186–1396) was established under the rule of Tsar Petar II (1186–1196).
The Ottoman era
This second kingdom reached its height during the reign of Tsar Ivan II (1218–1241) and marked a new high point in Bulgarian art and cultural development. However, a period of internal strife and unrest soon set in, and this took its toll on the Bulgarian state, so that by the middle of the 14th century it was in no condition to resist the advancing Ottoman Turks. They penetrated into Europe in 1354, and by 1396 had snuffed out the last pocket of Bulgarian resistance.
The Ottoman ‘yoke’, as it is usually called, lasted for over 500 years, and was a black period for Bulgaria, bringing great suffering to the ordinary people and, for several centuries, stifling the development of the nation. Finally, during the 18th century, something of a renaissance began to take place. Driven forward on the one side by patriotic monks such as Paisius of Hilendar (Paisiy Hilendarski) and later Neophyt of Rila (Neofit Rilski), and on the other by increasingly wealthy Bulgarian merchants, Bulgaria began its National Revival Period. This not only saw the flourishing of arts and crafts such as woodcarving and icon painting, but also inspired a new collective Bulgarian pride and ignited the desire for independence, first educational and religious, and finally political.
In April 1876, a long-planned but premature uprising broke out in the Sredna Gora Mountains, which was quickly and brutally crushed by the Ottoman Turks. However, although a failure in itself, it awoke European attention, and the following year Russia declared war on Turkey, eventually liberating Bulgaria in early 1878 after an epic winter campaign.
The Treaty of San Stefano that followed in March 1878 reinstated much of Bulgaria’s traditional lands in Macedonia, Thrace and Moesia. However, the western powers (Britain amongst them) feared the establishment of a Greater Bulgaria that would be closely allied to Russia, and in July 1878 convened the Congress of Berlin. At this, it was decided to do away with the earlier agreement and instead directly hand back to the Turks the territories of Macedonia