Rila Monastery Forest (, ''Rilomanastirska gora'') is a nature reserve in

Rila Monastery Nature Park Rila Monastery Nature Park () is one of the largest nature parks in Bulgaria, spanning a territory of in the western part of the Rila mountain range at an altitude between . It is in Rila Municipality, Kyustendil Province and includes forests, m ...

, located in the Rila mountain range in southwestern

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 ...

. Spanning a territory of 3671 ha or 36.71 km², it was declared in April 1986 to protect primary ecosystems of coniferous and mixed coniferous–deciduous forests. It is a

strict nature reserve A strict nature reserve (IUCN category Ia) or wilderness area (IUCN category Ib) is the highest category of protected area recognised by the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), a body which is part of the International Union for ...

(1st category protected territory according to Bulgarian legislation and

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

classification).

Geography

The reserve is situated in western part of Rila and is bisected in two unconnected parts by the valley of the

Rilska River The Rilska River (, ''Rilska reka'', "Rila River") is a river in south-western Bulgaria, a left tributary of the Struma (river), Struma. The river is 51 km long and drains the western sections of the Rila mountain range. Geography Under t ...

. It overlooks the

Rila Monastery The Monastery of Saint John of Rila, also known as Rila Monastery ("Sveti Ivan Rilski" (), is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is situated in the southwestern Rila Mountains, south of the capital Sofia in th ...

, one of the most important spiritual centers of Bulgaria. It includes forests and alpine peaks on both sides of the valley between the summits of

Malyovitsa Malyovitsa ( ) is a peak in the northwestern part of the Rila Mountain in southwestern Bulgaria. It is high and is one of the most popular tourist regions in the mountain. Its northern and eastern slopes are steep and almost inaccessible while t ...

(2,729 m) and Brichebor. One of the most visited parts is the meadow of Kirilova Polyana, overlooked by forests and the raising summits of

Kupenite Kupenite () are a group of four summits in the northwestern part of the Rila Mountain in southwestern Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the ...

(2,731 m), Lovnitsa (2,695 m),

Zlia Zab Zlia Zab (, meaning "The Evil Fang") is a summit in the northwestern part of the Rila mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria reaching height of 2,678 m. It is located on the boundary between Rila National Park and Rila Monastery Nature Par ...

(2,678 m), Dvuglav (2,605 m),

Orlovets Orlovets () is a summit in the northwestern part of the Rila mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria reaching height of 2,686 m. It is located on the boundary between Rila National Park and Rila Monastery Nature Park, to the east of the maj ...

(2,686 m) and Eleni Vrah (2,654 m). The northern slopes of the Rilska River valley are cut by gullies, the most famous being the dizzying White and the Blue Gully that descend from the Zlia Zab massif to the valley some 1,200 m below. Administratively, it is part of Rila Municipality,

Kyustendil Province Kyustendil Province () is a province in southwestern Bulgaria, extending over an area of (constituting 2.7% of the total territory of the Republic of Bulgaria), and with a population of 106 131. It borders the provinces of Sofia, Pernik, and ...

Flora and fauna

The reserve is a model of mixed deciduous–coniferous forests dominated by European silver fir (''

Abies alba Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The g ...

'') and European beech (''

Fagus sylvatica ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech, is a large, graceful deciduous tree in the Fagaceae, beech family with smooth silvery-gray bark, large leaf area, and a short trunk with low branches. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' i ...

''). The high-mountain population of the highly localised endemic Rila oak ('' Quercus protoroburoides'') is unique for the country, and in places it forms the upper forest boundary. Other common trees in the local mixed forests include Norway spruce (''

Picea abies ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, ...

''), Macedonian pine (''

Pinus peuce ''Pinus peuce'' (Macedonian pine or Balkan pine) (Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian: молика, molika; Bulgarian: бяла мура, byala mura) is a species of pine native to the mountains of North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro, Kos ...

''), Austrian pine (''

Pinus nigra ''Pinus nigra'', the Austrian pine or black pine, is a moderately variable species of pine, occurring across Southern Europe from the Iberian Peninsula and Lower Austria to the eastern Mediterranean, on the Anatolian peninsula of Turkey, Corsica ...

''), dwarf mountain pine (''

Pinus mugo ''Pinus mugo'', known as dwarf mountain pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, Swiss mountain pine, bog pine, creeping pine, or mugo pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and Sou ...

''), silver birch (''

Betula pendula ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family (biology), family Betulaceae, native plant, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in so ...

'') and goat willow (''

Salix caprea ''Salix caprea'', known as goat willow, pussy willow or great sallow, is a common species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook 4. . De ...

''). There are a number of rare and endemic plant species under protection, such as '' Anthemis orbelica'', ''

Cota tinctoria ''Cota tinctoria'', the golden marguerite, yellow chamomile, or oxeye chamomile, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the sunflower family. Other common names include dyer's chamomile, Boston daisy, and Paris daisy. In horticulture this ...

'', '' Geum bulgaricum'', '' Gentiana punctata'', '' Viola orbelica'', ''

Rheum rhaponticum ''Rheum rhaponticum'', the false rhubarb, rhapontic rhubarb or rhapontic, is a plant species in the genus ''Rheum'' found in the wild. It is the only ''Rheum'' species found only in Europe, and is now restricted to the Rila mountain range in sout ...

'', '' Sempervivum ciliosum'', '' Saxifraga retusa'', '' Aubrieta gracilis'', etc. The fauna is diverse for the reserve’s limited territory, with a number of rare mammal and bird species of conservation importance, including

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

gray wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

chamois The chamois (; ) (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope native to the mountains in Southern Europe, from the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines, the Dinarides, the Tatra Mountains, Tatra to the Carpa ...

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

, roe deer,

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

common buzzard The common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') is a medium-to-large bird of prey which has a large range. It is a member of the genus '' Buteo'' in the family Accipitridae. The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across much of ...

boreal owl The boreal owl (''Aegolius funereus'') or Tengmalm's owl is a small owl in the "true owl" family Strigidae. It is known as the boreal owl in North America and as Tengmalm's owl in Europe after Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm or, more r ...

, western capercaillie,

hazel grouse The hazel grouse (''Tetrastes bonasia''), sometimes called the hazel hen, is one of the smaller members of the grouse family of birds. It is a sedentary species, breeding across the Palearctic as far east as Hokkaido, and as far west as eastern a ...

black woodpecker The black woodpecker (''Dryocopus martius'') is a large woodpecker that lives in mature forests across the northern Palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region. Its range is expanding. The black woodpecker is easily the ...

northern nutcracker The northern nutcracker (''Nucifraga caryocatactes''), previously known as spotted nutcracker and Eurasian nutcracker, is a passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae. It is slightly larger than the Eurasian jay but has a much larger bill and a s ...

European robin The European robin (''Erithacus rubecula''), known simply as the robin or robin redbreast in the British Isles, is a small insectivorous passerine bird that belongs to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found across Europe, ea ...

, Eurasian crag martin, etc. Reptiles and amphibians are represented by

Aesculapian snake #REDIRECT Aesculapian snake {{redirect category shell, {{R from another capitalisation{{R from move ...

viviparous lizard The viviparous lizard or common lizard (''Zootoca vivipara'', formerly ''Lacerta vivipara'') is a Eurasian lizard. It lives farther north than any other non-marine reptile species, and is named for the fact that it is viviparous, meaning it give ...

common slow worm The common slow worm (''Anguis fragilis'') is a species of legless lizard native to western Eurasia. It is also called a deaf adder, blindworm, or regionally, a long-cripple, steelworm, and hazelworm. The "blind" in blindworm refers to the lizar ...

fire salamander The fire salamander (''Salamandra salamandra'') is a common species of salamander found in Europe. It is black with yellow spots or stripes to a varying degree; some specimens can be nearly completely black while on others the yellow is dominant ...

European tree frog The European tree frog (''Hyla arborea'') is a small tree frog. As traditionally defined, it was found throughout much of Europe, Asia and northern Africa, but based on molecular genetic and other data several populations formerly included in it ...

common frog The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog or simply the frog, is a semi ...

, etc. The

river trout ''Salmo trutta fario'', sometimes called the river trout, is a river-dwelling freshwater predatory fish from the genus ''Salmo'' of the family Salmonidae. It is one of the three main subspecies of the brown trout (''Salmo trutta''), besides sea ...

is found in the streams.

Gallery

File:2643 Rilski manastir, Bulgaria - panoramio (31).jpg , A view of the reserve File:Долината на Рилска река и Кирилова поляна - panoramio.jpg , A view of Kirilova Polyana from above File:Rilakloster stitched 59.jpg , A view to Zlia Zab, Dvuglav and Iglata File:2643 Rilski manastir, Bulgaria - panoramio (39).jpg , A stream

Citations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rila Monastery Forest Biosphere reserves of Bulgaria Nature reserves in Bulgaria Rila Geography of Kyustendil Province Tourist attractions in Kyustendil Province Protected areas established in 1986 1986 establishments in Bulgaria