Momina Klisura (, meaning ''Maiden's Gorge'') is a steep valley along the river

Mesta The ''Mesta'' () was a powerful association protecting livestock owners and their animals in the Crown of Castile that was incorporated in the 13th century and was dissolved in 1836. Although best known for its organisation of the annual migrat ...

in south-western

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, stretching about 25 km. Administratively, it is situated in the municipalities of

Bansko Bansko ( ) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, located in Blagoevgrad Oblast near the city of Razlog. Once mainly a stockbreeding and travelling merchant community, the town is now an international centre for winter and summer tourism. More rec ...

and

Gotse Delchev Georgi Nikolov Delchev (; ; 4 February 1872 – 4 May 1903), known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev (''Гоце Делчев''),Originally spelled in older Bulgarian orthography as ''Гоце Дѣлчевъ''. - Гоце Дѣлчевъ. ...

Blagoevgrad Province Blagoevgrad Province (, ''oblast Blagoevgrad'' or Благоевградска област, ''Blagoevgradska oblast''), also known as Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia (), (''Pirinska Makedoniya or Bulgarska Makedoniya'') is a province ('' ...

. According to the legend, the gorge was named after a maiden, who fought the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

defending the fortress of Momina Kula and plunged into the abyss upon seeing that the stronghold was about to fall.

Geography

Momina Klisura forms the divide between the

Pirin Mountains The Pirin Mountains ( ) are a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, with the highest peak, Vihren, at an altitude of . The range extends about from the north-west to the south-east and is about wide, spanning a territory of . To the north, ...

in the west and the westernmost ridge of the

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak ...

, Dabrash, in the east. It links the south-easternmost part of the

Razlog Valley The Razlog Valley () is a valley in southwestern Bulgaria, Blagoevgrad Province, containing the Razlog, Bansko, and Belitsa municipalities. It is bounded by the Rila Mountains to the north and northwest, the Pirin Mountains to the south and south ...

in the north and the northernmost part of the Gotse Delchev Valley in the south. The gorge is about 25 km long with an average altitude of 642 m. It is narrow with steep slopes dug into

metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock ( protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, caus ...

s, late

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

sediment and

vulcanite Vulcanite is a rare copper telluride mineral. The mineral has a metallic luster, and has a green or bronze-yellow tint. It has a hardness between 1 and 2 on the Mohs scale (between talc and gypsum). Its crystal structure is orthorhombic. Vulcani ...

. The river Retizhe, a right tributary of the Mesta, flows into its main course at Momina Klisura. The gorge takes its beginning east of the town of

Dobrinishte Dobrinishte ( ) is a small town and ski resort in the Blagoevgrad Province, Bansko Municipality, southwestern Bulgaria. it had 2973 inhabitants. It is located 6 km east of Bansko, a famous winter resort. It has an altitude of 850 m and is ...

, at the confluence with Bezbog River at an altitude of 693 m and heads to the south and south-east. The middle section is in the area of the village of

, where the altitude is 642 m. Momina Klisura ends to the south-east of the village of Gospodintsi in the Gotse Delchev Valley at an altitude of 544 m. Along its length are located the villages of Filipovo, Mesta and Gospodintsi, as well as the ruins of the

late antique Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodization has since been wide ...

and medieval fortress Momina Kula and another fortress near Gospodintsi. A 27.4 km long section of the second class road II-19 between

Simitli Simitli ( ) also known as Simitliya (), is a town in Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria. It has a population of 7,454 and is located 17 km south of Blagoevgrad. It is the seat of Simitli Municipality. Geography The town is locate ...

and Ilinden at the border with Greece follows the gorge.

Gallery

File:Momina kula IMG 0839.jpg, Momina Kula File:Momina kula East Wall Mesta River Bulgaria.jpg, Momina Kula

Citations

References

* * {{cite book , ref={{harvid, Dushkov, 1972 , title = Пирин. Туристически речник , trans-title = Pirin. Tourist Dictionary , last1 = Душков (Dushkov) , first1 = Добри (Dobri) , year = 1972 , language = Bulgarian , publisher = Наука и култура (Nauka i kultura) , location = София (

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

) , isbn = Canyons and gorges of Bulgaria Landforms of Blagoevgrad Province