Sinanitsa ( ) is a marble peak in the northern part of the Pirin Mountains of 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 ...

. high, Sinanitsa gives its name to the Sinanitsa Lateral Ridge, one of the four best pronounced lateral ridges in Pirin. Sinanitsa is also known as Chukata ( ), Varovita Chuka ( ) or The Split Peak (, ''Raztsepenia vrah'' ), the latter because of its unusual south face. Though it gives its name to the entire ridge due to its characteristic shape, the "enchantingly beautiful" Sinanitsa is in fact lower than the ridge's highest point, Gergiytsa, which measures metres and lies to the northwest. Sinanitsa is commonly regarded as one of the most beautiful peaks in Pirin and Bulgaria. On clear days, the summit is easily visible from the town of

Sandanski Sandanski ( ; , formerly known as Sveti Vrach, , until 1947) is a town and a recreation center in southwestern Bulgaria, part of Blagoevgrad Province. Named after the Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary Yane Sandanski, it is situated in Sanda ...

. The etymology of Sinanitsa's name is debated. It stems either from the Bulgarian word for "blue" (син, ''sin''), due to the peak appearing in that colour from a distance, or from the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

word ''sinan'' (سنان). The latter would describe it as a "spearhead" peak, referencing its sharp contours. Sinanica

The Sinanishko Lake lies in the eponymous

cirque A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...

to the north-northwest of Sinanitsa, at . The Sinanitsa River, a tributary of the Vlahinska River that subsequently flows into the Struma, originates from the lake's underground waters. The Sinanitsa Gate is a steep and rocky col on the ridge connecting the Sinanitsa cirque with the Spano Pole cirque to the southeast. The Sinanitsa Hut is situated by the shores of the lake, within direct view of the summit. The summit can be reached in approximately an hour from the hut. Sinanitsa's steep eastern face is a popular destination for

alpine climbing Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpi ...

. The route follows a vertical wall around high, with a climbing grade of 4b. It was first scaled by Andrey Todorov and Vasil Nastev on 12 July 1949; the first winter ascent was accomplished on 27 April 1955 by Encho Petkov and Yordan Machirski.

References

{{Kresna Mountains of Pirin Landforms of Blagoevgrad Province Two-thousanders of Bulgaria