Botew (mountain)
| Botev | ||
|---|---|---|
 TV tower and weather station on the Botew summit |
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| height | 2376 m | |
| location | Plovdiv Oblast , Bulgaria | |
| Mountains | Balkan Mountains | |
| Coordinates | 42 ° 43 '3 " N , 24 ° 55' 2" E | |
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| rock | granite | |
The summit Botew ( Bulgarian връх Ботев ; scientific transcription: vrach Botev ) is the highest mountain in the Balkan Mountains and is located in Bulgaria . At 2376 m above sea level, the Botew is the highest peak of the third highest mountain in Bulgaria, after the Rila with the peaks Musala ( 2925 m ) and the Pirin Mountains with the peak Wichren ( 2914 m ).
geography
It is located in the central Balkan Mountains, north of the Rose Valley , a few kilometers northeast of Karlovo , in the Plovdiv Oblast . The Botev peak is located near the geographic center of Bulgaria and is part of the Central Balkan Mountains National Park .
The mean annual temperature is −6 ° C, the mean temperature in January is −8.9 ° C and in July 7.9 ° C.
Surname
Until 1950 the mountain was called Jumruktschal (Bulgarian Юмрукчал or Юмрук чал ), then it was named after the Bulgarian freedom fighter and poet Christo Botew . Jumruktschal comes from Turkish ( Turkish Yumrukçal ) and means 'fist-shaped peak' ( Yumruk 'fist' ; çal 'high rocky hill ' ). The summit has steep side walls, but has a flat surface at the top and is therefore not entirely dissimilar to the shape of a fist.
Television tower
The television station on the Botew summit had an output of 20 kW and covered 17 to 21% of the country with its broadcast. At that time there were around 10,000 televisions in Bulgaria. On December 30, 1965, the regular operation of a television transmitter and a radio relay station (VHF) began on the Botew summit. The radio and television signal is carried through an underground cable to the transmitter on the summit. For the first time, on November 6, 1959, a television relay station was put into operation on the Botew summit in order to be able to broadcast a football match between Levski Sofia and Rapid Bucharest live in both countries. A meteorological station and a television tower (opened on July 10, 1966) were built on the Botev summit, which covers 65% of the Bulgarian territory with its radio and television programs.
Mountain huts and hiking trails
The Balkan Mountains, in whose central mountain range the Botew lies, extends in an east-west direction. The shortest ascent to the summit begins from the south side, at the Rai mountain hut (Bulgarian хижа Рай , paradise ; built in 1935; 120 beds), which is located at 1560 m on the southern slope of the Botew summit. The ascent takes 2.5 to 3 hours, the path was "laid out" (laid out) in 1941. The ascent to the Botew summit is sometimes very steep. The path is secured with a metal railing in some places. When descending from the Rai mountain hut, it is 4.5 hours by foot to Kalofer in the Rosental, the last 6 km before Kalofer being an asphalt road.
Another possible starting point for the ascent to the Botew summit is the Pleven mountain hut ( хижа Плевен ; 1504 m ; built 1967 to 1971), which is 3.5 to 4 hours away; the Tascha refuge ( хижа Тъжа ), which is 4 to 4.5 hours away and the Levski refuge ( хижа Левски ), which is 3.5 to 4 hours away .
Compared to an ascent to Musala (in Rila; 3 hours 'walk) or to Wichren (in Pirin; 3 hours' walk), the tourist has to cope with a much longer hike to climb to the Botew summit, which begins in Kalofer.
The northern slope of the summit, called Raiski skali (Bulgarian Райски скали , Paradise Rocks ), is a very popular climbing area for alpinists.
The Raiskija skali is a 124 meter high waterfall , the Raisko praskalo (Bulgarian Райско пръскало ), which is the highest waterfall in Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula. The waterfall is fed by a never-ending spring located just below the summit. The path from the Rai refuge to the summit passes this waterfall.
The Botew summit is one of the 100 national tourist objects of Bulgaria . Tourists visiting these 100 National Objects of Bulgaria can have the ascent of the summit confirmed with a stamp, which is available in the Botev tea room / shelter, which is located in the same building with the meteorological station. There is no regular overnight accommodation in the refuge on the summit.
The mountain hiking trail Kom – Emine leads as part of the European long-distance hiking trail E3 over the Botew summit.
South of the Botew summit is the Dschendema nature reserve (Bulgarian резерват Джендема ). Numerous endemic plant species grow here that are only found here worldwide.
A ridge stretches from the west, the end of which is the Botew summit. This ridge is the Trojan-Kalofer Mountains (Bulgarian Троянско-Калоферската планина ) - named after the towns of Kalofer and Trojan . From the Dobrila mountain hut (Bulgarian хижа Добрила ), which is further to the west, a hiking trail leads along the ridge to the Botev peak. This hiking trail has the difficulty level IV B.
