Over 6 300 000 votes have been cast for Bulgaria's Belogradchik Rocks in the online voting for the New Seven Wonders of the world at www.new7wonders.com.

This has been announced by the Belogradchik Mayor, Emil Tsankov, who made it clear that the participation of the Belogradchik Rocks in the ranking has brought a real boost to the local tourism industry in the northwest Bulgarian town.

Since the beginning of 2009, over 155 000 tourists have visited the town, which is a staggering 600% increase.

The northwest town of Belogradchik is celebrating its annual fair on Saturday. The Municipal Administration is developing a project in cooperation with the Moscow State University, which aims to include the Belogradchik Rocks in the world network of geo-parks.

The second phase of the voting for the New Seven Wonders at www.new7wonders.com closes on July 7.
The Belogradchik Rocks are competing with 260 other landmarks from 220 nations all across the world. The global campaign is organized by a Switzerland-based NGO.

77 of the 261 bidders will be selected as finalists by the end of the second phase through online voting at new7wonders.com. The winners, i.e. the world's new Seven Wonders will become known in 2011.

The Belogradchik Rocks are miraculous sandstone and limestone rock formations of up to 200 m in height with various shapes resulting from erosion. They form a strip which is 30 km in length and 3 km in width in the northwestern part of the Stara Planina (Balkan) Mountain.

Every single rock is named after a real object that it resembles. The rock range varies in color. The Belogradchik Rocks were declared a natural landmark in 1949. The ancient Belogradchik fortress is also located among the rocks.

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