Belogradchik
Belogradchik (Белоградчик) | |||
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Basic data | |||
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State : | Bulgaria | ||
Oblast : | Vidin | ||
Residents : | 4778 (December 31, 2016) | ||
Coordinates : | 43 ° 37 ' N , 22 ° 41' E | ||
Height : | 522 m | ||
Postal code : | 3900 | ||
Telephone code : | (+359) 0936 | ||
License plate : | bra | ||
Administration (as of November 14, 2007) | |||
Mayor : | Boris Nikolov | ||
Website : | www.belogradchik.bg |
Belogradschik [ ˌbɛɫoɡrɐˈtʃik ] ( Bulgar . Белоградчик ) is a small town in northwestern Bulgaria . The name of the city is derived from belo , "white", and grad , "castle" (today the predominant meaning "city"). The name means something like "White Castle" and alludes to the appearance of the fortress. The city is located about 180 km northwest of Sofia , 70 km northwest of Montana and about 50 km southwest of Vidin . The next rail connection is in Oreschez, twelve kilometers to the southwest .
geography
The city lies at an altitude of 520 meters between the two mountain ranges Veneza and Vedernik belonging to the Balkan Mountains . In the vicinity of the city there is a rock area about ten kilometers long and two kilometers wide with over 200 smaller rock towers made of red conglomerate rock .
Attractions
- Belogradchik Fortress , the fortress (Kaleto, from Turkish kale , "fortress") is located in the southwest of the city.
- Natural history museum, is located to the southeast just outside the village
- the Magura cave , a show cave approx. 2.5 km long
- Historical museum, in the house of the Panovi family (monument from 1810)
- Observatory with one of the largest telescopes in Bulgaria
- St. George's Church, built in 1868.
history
The Romans built a fortress into the rocks here as early as the 1st century . This was destroyed and rebuilt several times by the Byzantines, Bulgarians and Turks. The city at the foot of the fortress is first mentioned in a document in 1454. The present fortress was built during the Turkish rule in 1850 under Sultan Abdülmecit I. completed. The exploitation of the local population led to a peasant uprising in the same year, but this was suppressed. Nowadays Belogradchik is developing more and more into a tourist center. The surrounding rocks have been developed for Saxon climbing since the 1960s .
panorama
Web links
- Belogradchik Municipality ( Memento from April 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- Climbing in Belogradtschik (private homepage)
- Climbing in Belogradchik
- Magura cave