Balkan Mountains
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Stara Planina, Rhodope, Rila and Pirin Mountains |
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View from Ray Resthouse towards the Central Balkan Mountains. The Raysko Praskalo waterfall is in the middle. |
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The Iskar River passing through the mountains in a gorge |
The
Balkan mountain range (
Bulgarian: Стара планина,
Serbian:
Stara Planina, "Old Mountain") is an extension of the
Carpathian mountain range, separated from it by the
Danube River.
The range runs 560 km from eastern
Serbia eastward through central
Bulgaria to
Cape Emine on the
Black Sea.
The highest peak on the
Balkan peninsula is
Musala in the
Rila mountains near
Sofia (Rila range) with 2,925 m, closely followed by
Mount Olympus in Greece and
Vihren (Pirin range).
The highest peaks of the Stara Planina itself are in central Bulgaria. The highest peak is
Botev (2,376 m), located in the
Central Balkan National Park (established
1991).
Close to it is
Kalofer, the birth place of
Hristo Botev, a Bulgarian poet and national hero who died in the Western Stara Planina near
Vratsa in
1876 in the struggle against the
Ottoman Empire. Also close to Botev peak is the
Shipka Pass, the scene of the
four battles in
Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78 which ended Turkish rule in the Balkans. Close to the pass in the village of Shipka there is a
Russian Orthodox church, built to commemorate Bulgarian bravery during pass defence.
Stara Planina is remarkable for its flora and fauna.
Edelweiss grows there in the region of
Koziata stena.
There are many roads crossing Stara Planina (listed from west to east):
* Petrohan:
Sofia -
Montana* Iskarsko defile (
Iskar gorge): Sofia -
Vratsa* Hemus highway, Vitinya: Sofia -
Varna*
Beklemeto:
Troyan - Karnare
*
Shipka:
Gabrovo -
Kazanlak* Prohod na republikata (Pass of the Republic):
Veliko Tarnovo - Gurkovo
* Kotelski prohod (Kotel pass):
Kotel - Petolachka crossroad
* Varbishki prohod (Varbitsa pass):
Shumen - Petolachka crossroad
* Rizhki prohod (Rish pass):
Karnobat -
Madara* Dyulinski prohod (Dyulino pass):
Varna -
Aitos* Obzorski prohod (Obzor pass):
Varna -
BurgasIn earlier times the mountains were known as the
Haemus Mons. Scholars consider that
Haemus (Greek
'Aimos) is derived from an unattested
Thracian word *saimon, meaning 'mountain range'.
*
Botev Peak 2,376 m (named after
Hristo Botev)
* Vezhen
* Kom
* Buzludzha
* Levski (named after
Vasil Levski)
*
Rhodope Mountains,
Dinaric Alps,
Šar mountain,
Pindus — other major mountain chains in the Balkan region
*
Balkans
