The Brightest End of Bulgaria

Novinite Insider » DESTINATIONS | August 2, 2005, Tuesday // 00:00
The Brightest End of Bulgaria Surrounded by vertical crimson rocks the farthest east cape of Bulgaria - Cape Kaliakra - cuts into the sea with two meters long wedge and closes a huge horseshoe-shaped bay. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia News Agency)

By Ivelina Puhaleva

The wind of legends and history never stops here, on the farthest east cape of Bulgaria - Cape Kaliakra.

Surrounded by vertical crimson rocks the Cape Kaliakra cuts into the sea with two meters long wedge and closes a huge horseshoe-shaped bay, protected by the northern and eastern winds. In 4th century B.C. here the settlement of Tirizis was set up, after the name of the local Thracian tribe "tirizi".

In the words of the ancient Greek historian and geographer Strabone, here the deputy of Alexander the Great - Lisimah set up his army during the war against the Black Sea city-colonies where he hid a treasure of forty packsaddles of gold. During the Roman times the fortress was enlarged (under the name of Acros Kastelum - fortified cape) and saw the erection of a water main, baths, fortress walls and many public buildings.


At the end of 14th century the fortress became a capital city of the Karvuna principality of Dobrotitsa who cut coins with the name of Kaliakra on them. Nowadays you can still walk around many architectural ruins of fortress walls, medieval churches, Roman baths, water main, tomb and public buildings.

The legend of forty maidens who chose the sea abyss instead of outrage by Turkish enslavers is still alive in the memory of generations.

Once a military base, the Cape Kaliakra was dressed in the light of more than a hundred of projectors on the night of August 1 to make it the brightest place on the Black Sea coast. Thus the cape is visible from hundreds of kilometers along the northern Bulgarian coastline, twinkling on the background of night sky and sea.

The Cape Kaliakra project is part of a large initiative supported by local authorities aimed to promote it as a region rich in history and tourism opportunities. Here on Cape Kaliakra the project Bulgaria in Miniatures received its christening event and enlarged with one more miniature of a historic location of Bulgaria.

The author of the Cape Kaliakra project, Ivan Antonov, has in his record also the illumination show of Tsarevets, in the Old Bulgarian capital Tarnovo, which is performed once a year, in March. Together with Suni Suninski, author of the project "Bulgaria in Miniatures", he hopes to stir the interest of foreign tourists to Bulgaria and reveal them "in light and miniatures" the rich history and culture of this ancient land and people.

His efforts meet the sustainable support and commitment of local Kavarna municipality and especially of its mayor, Tsonko Tsonev. A committed rock fan, Mayor Tsonev is in full swing on the way to turn his picturesque hometown of Kavarna into a rock capital on the Balkans Peninsula.

After bringing rock dinosaurs Deep Purple, Saxxon, Ronnie James Dio, the energetic mayor braces for the new wave of rock with Scorpions, Accept, Destruction, Gamma Rey and Victory to start on August 20.

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