THE PIRIN MOUNTAINS (Bulgaria)
Bulgaria's Pirin Mountains (the name may derive from Perun, "Thor" of the Slavs) have over a hundred glacial lakes and Europe's southernmost glaciers. Pirin National Park protects the northern part. The range has some of the country's best forest, and species such as brown bear, gray wolf, wildcat, etc. The Melnik Earth Pyramids are in the southern foothills.
(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)
THE MADARA RIDER (Bulgaria)
This badly-eroded rock relief located east of Shumen in NE Bulgaria was carved 75 feet above ground level in the 7th-8th century, during the reign of the Bulgarian Khan Tervel. The identity (if any) of the near-life-sized figure is unknown. He is seen thrusting a spear into a lion at his horse's feet, with a dog running after him and a bird in front of his face.
(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)
THE THRACIAN TOMB OF KAZANLAK (Kazanlak, Bulgaria)
This vaulted-brickwork "beehive" tomb at Kazanlak in central Bulgaria is part of a large necropolis of more than a thousand royal and aristocratic tombs. Its corridor and round burial chamber are decorated with murals of a Thracian couple at a funeral feast. Dating to the 4th century BCE, it features Bulgaria's best-preserved Hellenistic masterpieces.
(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)
