Amidst the magical beauty of Bulgaria's snow-covered Kraishte region

published on 1/16/25 11:18 AM

Photo: Miglena Ivanova

The so-called Kraishte (a place at the end) is a region in Western Bulgaria, on the border with Serbia, known for its preserved natural beauty. Over the past decade, this region has enjoyed increasing interest among hiking enthusiasts. And yet, you can still wander here for hours without meeting a living soul, and feel fully merged with nature. Today we will offer you a short photo walk through some of the beauties of this region guided by our colleague Miglena Ivanova.

It is winter and snow is falling thick. On an untrodden path with wonderful tourist markings, financed by a project of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, we set off from the village of Zelenigrad in the Tran region to one of the local landmarks – Shili Kamik.

The road there leads us past forgotten cottages hiding secrets from the lives of their former inhabitants.

In the frosty fog, the rock known as Shili Kamik appears before us.

In clear weather, Shili Kamik offers a beautiful panoramic view of the historical and geographical region of Znepole. Because of the fog, the picture before us now looks rather fairy-tale and mysterious.

Very close to here is another landmark – Tsvetanovo Izhle (hut, cottage) – a U-shaped rock, reminiscent of the ruins of a stone house. Legend has it that this was an ancient sanctuary.

From here we will set off towards the Zavalska Mountain and the village of Garlo with the famous temple-well near it. On the way there, we pass by the silent Krasava dam, which supplies water to the town of Breznik and the surrounding villages,

Breznik, known and unknown

as well as an old cemetery with interestingly shaped crosses - a larger one rises in front, and behind it there are many smaller ones, inscribed in a circle. Some associate them with the Crusaders, others with the Bogomils.

Climbing a small elevation, we find ourselves in front of our last goal for the day - the over 3,000-year-old temple-well - a phenomenon that has no analogues in Bulgaria.

The temple-well at Garlo village

It was discovered in 1971 by archaeologist Dimitrina Mitova-Dzhonova. She connects the construction with the ancient building tradition of the "nuraghi" culture on the island of Sardinia, where similar structures have been found. A spiral staircase leads to the interior of the temple dug into the ground, built with the so-called dry masonry technique.