Each rock formation bears a name: Adam and Eve, The Schoolgirl, The Bear, The Shepherd boy, The Dervish, The First slabstone, The Camel, The Mushrooms, The Cuckoo, The Red wall, The Madonna, The Horseman, The Monks, The Mental stone, Rebel Velko, The Pine stone and so on, and each one comes with a story.

The Belogradchik rocks form a 3 km wide and 30 kilometer long strip, and the rock formations reach some 200 meters in height. They were formed at the bottom of a sea as the product of compression (they began 230 million years ago as sediment at the bottom of a shallow sea) and then erosion over the last 45 million years. The rocks, made largely of limestone, also hold hundreds of caves, including Magura Cave where the bones of prehistoric species like cave bear or cave hyena have been discovered, as have cave paintings dating from 10,000 BC - 600 BC.

Among two of the most famous and most curious legends surrounding the rocks are that of the Madonna and the Schoolgirl. In the legend of the Madonna, a beautiful nun falls in love with a man on a white horse, gets pregnant, is cast out by the monks and as she is leaving the nunnery, day turns to night and all, Madonna, monks, man on the white horse are turned to stone forming the rocks.

The schoolgirl's legend is remarkably similar. It also concerns a beautiful girl (who seem to be especially prone to being turned to stone) , replace the nuns with a mean schoolmaster, her love interest is a blacksmith, and this time she is being chased by the schoolmaster and runs into a bear, when—kazam!—as before all are turned to stone.

The Magura Caves

The Magura Caves are located alongside the Rabisha Lake which is the largest inland lake in the country (ideal for a quick swim in the warmer months). The Magura Caves are 2.5 kilometers in length and boasts a floor area of over 30,000 square meters making the complex one of the largest in Bulgaria. Archaeologists believe that humans resided in these caves as long ago as the Early Bronze Age. The caves are certainly a natural wonder with unique stalactites and stalagmites, named for their appearance in the same way the Belogradchik rocks are. There are seven main

Bulgaria Travel Guide Magura Cave Arthalls including the Triumphal Hall, the Poplar Hall, the Throne Hall, and the Ceremonial Hall. Other galleries and passages lead to unexpected features such as a concert hall and a wine cellar. The paintings on the cave walls are done in bat guano and reveal a great deal about the prehistoric people who once inhabited them. Some scholars surmise that these people were matriarchal as the women are generally depicted larger than the men. The cave floor is extremely slippery and the pathway is narrow so visitors would be wise to wear appropriate footwear.

The Baba Vidin Fortress

The Baba Vidin Fortress provides a gorgeous view of the Danube and the shores of Romania. The river itself was a significant ancient frontier, responsible for keeping the barbarian tribes at bay. The handiwork of the Ottomans is once again evident in the massive fortress which now serves as a popular site for concerts and weddings. Unfortunately, while touring the fortress, visitors may find the exhibits more comical than educational. The torture chamber includes an anatomically incorrect skeleton and eerie "tools" while the jail cell includes strangely posed, oddly dressed mannequins. Nevertheless, the impressive architecture and the stunning views cannot be disputed

Bulgaria's History

In ancient times, Bulgaria was occupied by the Thracians, an Indo-European tribe, the first evidence of which comes from the writings of Homer. The Thracians occupied what is today Bulgaria, Northern Greece, Tessalonika, the Ukraine and the southern part of Romania. In fact, Herodotus wrote that the Thracians were the most numerous people in the world, second only to the Indians. This civilization began in the 7th Century BC and flourished in the 3rd Century BC under the reign of Alexander the Great. After his death in 332 BC, his empire was divided into thirds and Bulgaria fell within the Antigonid Empire, which encompassed what had been Greece and Macedonia as well. By the 1st Century AD, the Romans occupied Bulgaria which proved to be a strategic location, especially in terms of keeping the barbarians at arm's length on the other side of the Danube.

Bulgaria Travel Guide BelogradchikWhile the Greeks colonized the coast, the Romans settled inland. Due to their powerful military, it was relatively easy for the Romans to occupy Bulgaria, and they built their towns on top of the Thracian ruins. They began building several large cities along the Danube; the most notable in this area included Ratziaria and Dorostorum. Creating these cities provided a sort of "belt" to protect the province from invaders and the cities were eventually connected by roads which allowed for easy movement of troops and goods. The Romans found their way to Belogradchik in the foothills of the Balkan Mountains after settling along the banks of the Danube, only about 50km away. Many of the Roman settlements in northwest Bulgaria, such as Belogradchik, were established as something akin to a modern day retirement community for members of the Roman legion.

The development of Bulgaria's national identity was steady over the first millennium A.D. and it was affected by a number of external influences, shaping shaped it into the modern nation it is today. The Slavs settled here in the 5th Century and were succeeded by settlers who established the Bulgarian state in the 7th Century. In the 9th Century, Khan Boris of Bulgaria adopted Constantinople's model of Eastern Orthodox Christianity which remains the country's most widely-practiced religion. A century later, Bulgaria adopted the Cyrillic alphabet. In fact, when Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, Cyrillic was elevated to the third official alphabet of the union along with Greek and Latin. The first Bulgarian Kingdom was established by Bulgars of Turkish descent; the first and second Bulgarian kingdoms endured until Bulgaria was absorbed by the Ottoman Empire.

Bulgaria's 20th Century history is equally interesting. Bulgaria allied with Germany in both world wars. One week before his death, Bulgarian King Boris met with Hitler who asked that the king deport Bulgaria's Jews to the Nazi camps. Although Boris agreed to this to appease Hitler, he instead sent the Jews from Sofia and Plovdiv east to protect them, thus refusing to destroy the nation's Jewish population. Legend has it that Boris' death was the result of poisoning ordered by Hitler who had found out that he had saved the Jews. From the end of World War II until 1989, the nation was ruled by a communist government and known as the People's Republic of Bulgaria. Since 1989, the Republic of Bulgaria has enjoyed a free market economy and democratic government, joining the EU in 2007.

(I find Beloradchik pretty impressive and I like the legend of it too, it's interesting also I forget to mention that the  Bulgaria pictures don't belong to me. I only got them from websites)