Cape Kaliakra, Kavarna

Cape Kaliakra is a long rocky headland, that juts out into the Black Sea from the coast of northern Bulgaria.Cape Kaliakra is the eastern-most point of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.  Offering a strategic vantage point over the Black Sea, the cape has seen a long history of fortifications; occupied successively by the Thracians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Bulgarians, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Romania.The name ‘Kaliakra’ comes from the Byzantine Greek words, ‘καλός’ (‘beautiful’) and ‘άκρα’ (‘headland’ or ‘fortress’).According to the stories when the Ottoman army approached Kaliakra, 40 local girls fled to the end of the headland. They tied their hair together, and jumped from the edge of the cliff; preferring to die on the rocks beneath rather than be captured. An obelisk known as ‘The Gate of the 40 Maidens’  now stands at the entrance to the cape, in memory of their sacrifice.Cape Kaliakra today, with its ecological reserves, wind farms and championship golf courses, offers few clues as to the countless bloody battles which have been waged along this length of the Black Sea coast. However even now, the dispute remains unsettled.