Bulgaria

1- Mount Pirin Mount Pirin has a limestone Balkan landscape, with lakes, waterfalls, caves and pine forests. The highest peak is Vihren (2914 m). The park is included in the UNESCO's List of World Cultural and Wildlife Heritage. The rugged mountains, with some 70 glacial lakes scattered throughout them, are home to hundreds of endemic and rare species, many of which are representative of the Balkan Pleistocene flora. The mountains also have diverse and unique landscapes of great aesthetic value. 2- Sights of Melnik The smallest town in Bulgaria, with only 250 inhabitants at present was once a prosperous, flourishing wine-production centre, exporting its famous red wine all over Europe. The fantastic surrounding natural scenery (the geological phenomenon called "Melnik Pyramids") with the ghostly yellowish-grey sand pyramids hung over the imposing medieval houses of the wealthy wine merchants attracts many tourists, who can try the famous wine in the authentically preserved wine cellars of the old houses. The region around "Melnik Pyramids" is built up of Precambrian metamorphites, Paleozoic and Paleogene granites, Neogene and Quaternary continental sediments. 3- Mount Rila Mount Rila is the highest mountain in Bulgaria. Most of the highest peaks are about 2500 - 2700m. Some of them have alpine look (Maljovica - 2730m and its ridge), others are high-mountain meadows (mostly in Eastern Rila). Mussala peak with its 2925,40 m is the highest point of the Balkan Peninsula. Rils is divided into four main parts by deep glacier-made valleys. These are the valleys of Iskar Rivers, Rilska River, Mariza River. Some other beautiful parts of this mountain are these eyes - glacier lakes 4- The Wonder Bridges The Wonder Bridges are geological phenomena, naturally built in marble rocks, in the Central Rhodope Mountains near to Zabardo village, Smoljan district. 5- Pirin National Park Pirin National Park covers an area of 27400 ha and lies at an altitude of 1008-2914 m in the Mount Pirin in southwest Bulgaria. The reserve "Bayuvi doupki" - Dzhindzhiritsa" is situated in the National Park. The oldest tree, over 1200 years old, is Baikoushev's white fir. 6- Ritlite (The Racks) The protected area "Ritlite" is situated in the southern part of the Fore-Balkan. In the region, Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks crop out, subdivided in many lithostratigraphical units. Many faults and folds complicate the geological structure of the area. The Racks are one of the most famous geological phenomena in Bulgaria. This is due to their unique beauty and their location in the very interesting Iskar Gorge, as well as the easy access and the possibility for travelling passengers to observe the features by train or by car. 7- Sunny Beach It is the largest resort, with the longest and widest beach strip, with hotels spread along the beach and among the dunes, the sunniest resort for the sunniest people. 8- Sticking Up Stones Sticking up Stones are geological phenomena (bacterium-seaweed columns) near Varna town, one of the most attractive Bulgarian towns, the Pearl of the Bulgarian Black Sea. The stone columns are unique limestone columns with natural origin in the midst of Eocene sands.

9- Nessebar Nessebar town is situated in the northern limb of the Burgas synclinorium, part of the East Srednogorie structural zone. The rocks in the area are represented by Cretaceous volcanic rocks, Neogene and Quaternary sediments. The area includes 5 areas where aeolian formations of different scale - dunes - have developed. They represent an unusual geological phenomenon for the country, but they are common in the area of the southern Black Sea shoreline. 10- The Rock Window The Rock Window (or Skalnija Most) is a geological phenomenon sculptured in Oligocene rhyolitic tuffs from the Arda zone of East Rhodopean Paleogene depression near Kostino village, Kardzhali district. The region around the phenomenon is built up of Proterozoic high-grade metamorphites, Paleogene (Priabonian-Oligocene) sedimentary, volcanic and volcano-sedimentary rocks as well as Quaternary alluvial depositions.