The Karadzhov Boulder, Pamporovo

The Karadzhov Boulder is a remarkable rock formation located near the village of Mostovo in the Rhodope Mountains. The formation is two stone pillars that rise to plateaus with a peak that is 1,448 meters high, and with walls so steep and narrow that they form a deep fissure. In this fissure rests a giant stone, testimony to the massive forces needed to wedge it there. This stone is called The Karadzhov Boulder. The phenomenon was officially declared a natural landmark.From ancient times, this stone has been seen as something extraordinary – the ancient Thracians erected a sanctuary at the site to honor their dead. There are still circular declivities in the stone that had religious importance when they were hollowed out, and there is a stone stairway leading to the upper part of the massif. Local residents, unlike the ancient Thracians, do not consider the site sacred, but instead associate it with revolutionaries in the area who opposed Turkish rule. There is a small cave under the Karadzhov Boulder, where according to legend an activist leader known as Karadzha would hide with his men to avenge themselves on the Ottomans. That is how the stone got its present name.

But whatever the history or legends attached to it, the Karadzhov Boulder is above all an amazing natural phenomenon, set in the beautiful surroundings of the Kormishov Nature Reserve.