The number of tourists who visited Bulgaria's town of Belogradchik from the beginning of 2013 until now has increased by 12%, says local mayor Boris Nikolov .

Speaking for "Standard" daily, he reported that 54 000 Bulgarians and foreigners have viewed the historical fortress, the adjacent rocks and the Natural Science Museum .

Due to financial problems, the municipality cannot slate money to advertise its sights, however, interest in them is growing.

"I hope the trend will remain and the number of tourists will reach previous levels of 100 000 visitors per year," added the mayor .

At present the fortress is being restored under a project funded by the European Regional Development Program valued at BGN 3 M.

The Belogradchik Rocks, located near the northwest Bulgarian town of Belogradchik, 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.

In 2009, the Bulgarian natural phenomenon was included in The New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign organized by the Swiss non-profit New7Wonders Foundation.