Strandzha Nature Park ( ''Priroden park Strandzha'', also transliterated as Stranja Nature Park) is the
largest protected area in
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 in the
Strandzha
Strandzha (, also transliterated as ''Strandja'', ; , or ) is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and East Thrace, the European part of Turkey. It is in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of Thrace to the west, th ...
Mountain in the extreme south-eastern corner of the country on the border with Turkey. It was established on 25 January 1995 to protect ecosystems and biodiversity of
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an importance, as well as the traditional cultural, historical and folklore heritage of the region. The altitude varies from on Gradishte Peak to at the
Black Sea coast with average length of from west to east and from north to south.
The nature park is situated in
Burgas Province
Burgas (, formerly the Burgas okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. The province is named after its administrative and industrial centre, the city of Burgas, the fourth biggest town in the countr ...
with two towns,
Malko Tarnovo
Malko Tarnovo ( , "Little Tarnovo"; as opposed to Veliko Tarnovo) is a town in Burgas Province, southeastern Bulgaria, 5 km from the Turkish border. It is the only town in the interior of the Bulgarian Strandzha Mountains and lies in Stra ...
and
Ahtopol
Ahtopol ( , ) is a town and seaside resort on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.
Geography Location
It is located on a headland in the southeastern part of Burgas Province and is close to the border with European Turkey. It is the south ...
, and several villages within its territory. It includes five
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
s:
Silkosiya,
Sredoka,
Tisovitsa,
Uzunbodzhak
Uzunbodzhak (), also transliterated as Ouzounboudjak is an UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, one of the five nature reserves in Strandzha Nature Park in south-eastern Bulgaria. The reserve is sometimes called Lopushna (). Uzunbodzhak was established on 1 ...
and
Vitanovo. Silkosiya is the oldest one in Bulgaria, established in 1933, and Uzunbodzhak is included in the
World Network of Biosphere Reserves
The UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) covers internationally designated protected areas, known as biosphere or nature reserves, which are meant to demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature (e.g. encourage susta ...
under the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Man and Biosphere Programme.
The whole territory is part of the network of nature protection areas of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
,
Natura 2000
Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...
.
Strandzha Nature Park falls within two terrestrial
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
s of the
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
Th ...
temperate broadleaf and mixed forest
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions.
Thes ...
— the
Balkan mixed forests
The Balkan mixed forests are a terrestrial ecoregion of southeastern Europe according to both the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agency. It belongs in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests bio ...
and the
Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests.
Forests cover 80% of the park's area, with
old-growth forest
An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...
forming 30% of them. These woods are the last remaining temperate forests with evergreen laurel undergrowth in Europe. The park has the highest number of vertebrate species of all protected areas in Bulgaria, including 66 species of
mammal
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
s, 269 species of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s, 24 species of
reptile
Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...
s, 10 species of
amphibia
Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods, but excluding the amniotes (tetrapods with an amniotic ...
and 41 species of
freshwater fish
Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes, ponds and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many wa ...
, as well as 70 species of
marine fish
Saltwater fish, also called marine fish or sea fish, are fish that live in seawater. Saltwater fish can swim and live alone or in a large group called a school.
Saltwater fish are very commonly kept in aquariums for entertainment. Many saltwater ...
in the waters of the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
. The invertebrate fauna is poorly researched and includes 84 Bulgarian
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
species, of which 4 are local, and 34
relict species
In biogeography and paleontology, a relict is a population or taxon of organisms that was more widespread or more diverse in the past. A relictual population is a population currently inhabiting a restricted area whose range was far wider during a ...
.
The oldest traces of human habitation found in the territory of the park date from the
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period in c. 6000 BC. By the mid-1st millennium BC Strandzha was inhabited by
Thracian
The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...
tribes, forming part of several Thracian kingdoms until the region was annexed by the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
in 45 AD. In the Middle Ages the area was contested between the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
and the
Bulgarian Empire Bulgarian Empire may refer to:
* First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led b ...
s until it was conquered by 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 ...
in the late 14th century. After the
Liberation of Bulgaria
The Liberation of Bulgaria is the historical process as a result of the Bulgarian Revival. In Bulgarian historiography, the liberation of Bulgaria refers to those events of the Tenth Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) that led to the re-establishme ...
in 1878, Strandzha remained in the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, which resulted in the 1903
Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising
The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising (), consisting of the Ilinden Uprising (; ) and Preobrazhenie Uprising,Keith Brown (2013). Loyal Unto Death Trust and Terror in Revolutionary Macedonia. Indiana University Press. pp. 15-18. . was an organi ...
by the local Bulgarian population. The region was liberated in 1912 during the
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...
. The rich history has left an important cultural heritage by several civilizations and folklore traditions unique for Bulgaria, such as
Nestinarstvo
The Anastenaria (, ) is a traditional barefoot firewalking ritual with ecstatic dance performed in some villages in Northern Greece and Southern Bulgaria. The communities which celebrate this ritual are descended from refugees who entered Greec ...
that involves a barefoot dance on smouldering embers — a vestige from the pagan past. Traditional Strandzha wooden architecture from the mid-17th to the 19th century is preserved in the villages of
Brashlyan
Brashlyan (, 'ivy') is a village in Malko Tarnovo Municipality, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria. Known as ''Sarmashik'' until 1934, today the entire village is an architectural reserve displaying characteristic Strandzha wooden archit ...
and
Kosti, as well as in the town of Malko Tarnovo.
Park administration

Strandzha Nature Park was established on 25 January 1995 to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as the traditional cultural, historical and folklore heritage of the region. Before 1995 the protection of the region had been fragmented, consisting of isolated
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
s and protected areas. The park is administered by a directorate based in
Malko Tarnovo
Malko Tarnovo ( , "Little Tarnovo"; as opposed to Veliko Tarnovo) is a town in Burgas Province, southeastern Bulgaria, 5 km from the Turkish border. It is the only town in the interior of the Bulgarian Strandzha Mountains and lies in Stra ...
and subordinated to the Executive Forest Agency of the
Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria.
The directorate implements the state policy for the management and control of the protected area, aiming at the long-term conservation of the unique nature and ensuring the sustainable social and economic development of the region.
It monitors the management and conservation of the forests, game, and fish resources while encouraging tourism and environmental protection.
The park falls within the
International Union for Conservation of Nature
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 stat ...
management category V (protected landscape/seascape).
The whole territory of the park and the adjacent Black Sea waters are included in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
network of nature protection areas
Natura 2000
Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...
under the code Strandzha BG0001007. Strandzha Nature Park is listed as an important bird and biodiversity area by
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
. There are two information centres for visitors: in Malko Tarnovo and in
Gramatikovo.
Geography
Overview
Strandzha Nature Park is situated entirely in
Burgas Province
Burgas (, formerly the Burgas okrug) is a province in southeastern Bulgaria on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. The province is named after its administrative and industrial centre, the city of Burgas, the fourth biggest town in the countr ...
within the territory of two municipalities,
Malko Tarnovo
Malko Tarnovo ( , "Little Tarnovo"; as opposed to Veliko Tarnovo) is a town in Burgas Province, southeastern Bulgaria, 5 km from the Turkish border. It is the only town in the interior of the Bulgarian Strandzha Mountains and lies in Stra ...
and
Tsarevo
Tsarevo (, , also transliterated as Carevo or Tzarevo) is a town and seaside resort in the Municipality of Tsarevo, Burgas Province, Bulgaria.
Etymology
In the past, it was known as Vasiliko (), and between 1950 and 1991 it was known as Michuri ...
, in the extreme south-eastern corner of Bulgaria. This area includes the 7,000 inhabitants of 19 villages, and the towns of Malko Tarnovo and
Ahtopol
Ahtopol ( , ) is a town and seaside resort on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.
Geography Location
It is located on a headland in the southeastern part of Burgas Province and is close to the border with European Turkey. It is the south ...
.
Strandzha is the least populated region in Bulgaria with a population density of 10 people per km
2. It is accessible through the
I-9 first class road to the west and the III-9901 third class road to the east which serves the park coastline. The two roads are linked by the II-99 second class road. With an area of , or approximately 1% of the national territory, the park is the largest protected territory in Bulgaria.
Due to the geographic location of Strandzha in the immediate vicinity of
Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
, the park contains biodiversity of European importance as well as a unique historical heritage.
The vegetation of
Strandzha
Strandzha (, also transliterated as ''Strandja'', ; , or ) is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and East Thrace, the European part of Turkey. It is in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of Thrace to the west, th ...
evolved before the formation of the
Bosphorus Strait
The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental b ...
when the whole southern Black Sea coast was linked and represents the westernmost extension of the
Euxine-Colchic ecoregion.
Because of the proximity of three seas, the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
, the
Marmara Sea
The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...
and the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...
, Strandzha remained unaffected by the
Quaternary glaciation
The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial period, glacial and interglacial, interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Year#SI prefix multipliers, Ma (million ...
and retained its mild and relatively humid climate. Under those conditions the region has preserved relict species from the
Neogene
The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...
.
Relief, geology and soils
The relief of Strandzha is hilly, characterised by mild rolling ridges covered with dense woods. To the west the mountain is steeper and more rugged. Strandzha Nature Park has two clearly defined ridges — Rezovo ridge with its highest summit at Golyamo Gradishte peak at and
Bosna ridge with Papia at ) forming the highest elevation.
Approximately 38% of the park's territory has an altitude from
, 60% from , and only 2% lies above .
The mountain is an
anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a type of Fold (geology), fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest Bed (geology), beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex curve, c ...
with core layers formed by
igneous
Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.
The magma can be derived from partial ...
and
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 with
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...
origin and surface strata covered with
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...
sediments dating from the
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 ...
,
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...
and
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
periods. The anticline has an orientation from north-west to south-east. The river valleys are geologically young, formed during the
Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...
, and have gentle slopes and a slight inclination.
In the western regions there is an extensive
karst
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
area with
carbonate rock
Carbonate rocks are a class of sedimentary rocks composed primarily of carbonate minerals. The two major types are limestone, which is composed of calcite or aragonite (different crystal forms of CaCO3), and Dolomite (rock), dolomite rock (also kn ...
s spanning from the village of
Varovnik to the town of Malko Tarnovo with
ponor
A ponor is a natural opening where surface water enters into underground passages; they may be found in Karst topography, karst landscapes where the geology and the geomorphology is typically dominated by porous limestone rock. Ponors can drain s ...
s,
cavern
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock sh ...
s and
cave
Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...
s.
The territory of Strandzha Nature Park falls within the Mediterranean soil area of Europe, characterised by wetter soils in comparison to the rest of
Southern Europe
Southern Europe is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C ...
.
There are seven soil types in the park under the
World Reference Base for Soil Resources
The World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is an international soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps. The currently valid version is the fourth edition 2022. It is edited by a working group of the I ...
soil classification —
Fluvisols
A fluvisol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a genetically young soil in alluvial deposits . Apart from river sediments, they also occur in lacustrine and marine deposits.
Fluvisols correlate with fluvents and fluvaquents ...
(4% of the park's area),
Leptosols
A Leptosol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a very shallow soil over continuous rock or a deeper soil that is extremely rich in coarse fragments (gravelly and/or stony). Leptosols cover approximately 1.7 billion hectares o ...
(10%),
Cambisols
A Cambisol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a soil in the beginning of soil formation. The horizon differentiation is weak. This is evident from weak, mostly brownish discolouration and/or structure formation in the soil pro ...
(4%),
Luvisols (46%),
Planosols
A Planosol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources is a soil with a light-coloured, coarse-textured, surface horizon that shows signs of periodic water stagnation and abruptly overlies a dense, slowly permeable subsoil with significantl ...
(20%),
Alisols (11%) and
Nitisols (5%).
Strandzha is the only place in Bulgaria where Alisoils are found and the only place in Europe with Nitisols.
Climate
The climate of Strandzha is influenced by the proximity of the Black, Marmara and Aegean seas which clearly distinguishes the local climate from that of the rest of Bulgaria.
The region is among the warmest in the country with temperatures rarely falling below 0 °C in winter and rising above 24 °C in summer due to the cooling effect of the Black Sea.
The average temperature drops with the rising elevation in the interior which creates conditions for more frequent and longer-lasting mists, heavier snowfall and earlier frosts. In winter frequent fogs lead to
hard rime
Rime ice forms when supercooled water droplets freeze onto surfaces. In the atmosphere, there are three basic types of rime ice:
*Soft rime forms when supercooled water freezes under calm wind conditions. It is milky and crystalline, like suga ...
and the icing of the forests at altitudes above 50.
The winds are predominantly northern. Along the coastline the winds flow from the north in November – March, from the east in April – August and from the north-east in September – October. The
sea breeze
A sea breeze or onshore breeze is a wind that blows in the afternoon from a large body of water toward or onto a landmass. By contrast, a land breeze or offshore breeze is a wind that blows in the night from a landmass toward or onto a large ...
causes the high frequency of eastern winds in summer. In the interior the predominant wind direction is more varied with northern winds being the most frequent in January – March and in October.
The annual precipitation is high, reaching in some areas above . Along the coast rainfall is under the influence of the Mediterranean and is characterised with a winter maximum while the higher regions of Strandzha also have a second maximum in May – June as a result of the continental climate.
In the interior rainfall is higher and influenced by the cold northern and north-eastern winds. There is no natural protection to the north which often results in abrupt temperature falls.
Strandzha has a significant potential for climate therapy. Due to the healthy climate along the coastline combined with sandy beaches,
Ahtopol
Ahtopol ( , ) is a town and seaside resort on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.
Geography Location
It is located on a headland in the southeastern part of Burgas Province and is close to the border with European Turkey. It is the south ...
was designated a climatic sea resort of national importance and
Sinemorets
Sinemorets (, also ''Sinemorec'', ''Sinemoretz'', "place on the blue sea") is a village and seaside resort on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria.
Etymology
The current name dates back to 1934; prior to that, the village was known as ''Γαλαζά� ...
a climatic sea resort of local importance.
Rivers

Strandzha is criss-crossed by a dense network of deep ravines, streams and rivers. The rivers have a discharge maximum in winter, in November – December. With a total length of , the
Veleka
The Veleka ( , ) is a river in the very southeast of Bulgaria, as well as the very northeast of European Turkey. It is 147 km long, of which 108 km lie in Bulgaria and 25 km are in Turkey. It flows into the Black Sea at the Bulga ...
river is the longest and largest in Strandzha. Its upper course has a rocky bottom and many rapids. As the river flows through the karstic region of the mountain, its banks are steep with cliffs and precipices. After the village of
Zvezdets, the river valley grows wider, the inclination decreases, the water flow slows and the river creates many
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...
s. In the lower course the river banks are flooded seasonally forming a wetland forest of alluvial longose groves. The Veleka is navigable in the first up from the river mouth.
The second longest river is the
Rezovo river
The Rezovo (also Rezovska reka, Rezvaya and Rezve; ; ) is a river in the extreme southeast of Bulgaria and northernmost part of European Turkey. Its length is 112 km, of which the uppermost 23 km are in Turkey and 89 km form the B ...
, at . It generally flows east and along most of its course forms the border between Bulgaria and
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. According to a hypothesis its etymology is linked to the mythological king
Rhesus of Thrace
Rhesus (; Ancient Greek: Ῥῆσος ''Rhêsos'') is a mythical king of Thrace in '' The Iliad'' who fought on the side of Trojans. Rhesus arrived late to the battle and while asleep in his camp, Diomedes and Odysseus stole his team of horses d ...
.
The banks of the river are covered with dense oak and beech forests. The Bulgarian bank is characterised with many cliff formations and caves. The Rezovo river is faster and colder than the Veleka and therefore has a larger
trout
Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...
population.
The tributaries of the Veleka include the Mladezhka river (), Mechi Dol (), Katun (), and the main tributary of the Rezovo river is the Delievska river ().
Protected areas

Strandzha Nature Park includes five
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
s (
Silkosiya,
Sredoka,
Tisovitsa,
Uzunbodzhak
Uzunbodzhak (), also transliterated as Ouzounboudjak is an UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, one of the five nature reserves in Strandzha Nature Park in south-eastern Bulgaria. The reserve is sometimes called Lopushna (). Uzunbodzhak was established on 1 ...
and
Vitanovo), eight natural landmarks, and 14 protected areas. Silkosiya is the first nature reserve in Bulgaria, established in 1933. It is situated to the north of
Kosti and to the east of
Balgari
Balgari () is a village in Tsarevo Municipality, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly ...
. It hosts 260 species of vascular plants and forests with average tree age of 120–130 years.
Srednoka is situated in the lower course of the Mechi Dol river and is the only reserve in Strandzha with many meadows and open spaces.
Tisovitsa is located in an area with a difficult access along the banks of the homonymous river and features archaeological sites from ancient Thrace.
Uzunbodzhak is included in the
World Network of Biosphere Reserves
The UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) covers internationally designated protected areas, known as biosphere or nature reserves, which are meant to demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature (e.g. encourage susta ...
under the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Man and Biosphere Programme and is situated along the border with Turkey.
Vitanovo is located on the main Rezovo ridge from Malko Tarnovo and from
Brashlyan
Brashlyan (, 'ivy') is a village in Malko Tarnovo Municipality, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria. Known as ''Sarmashik'' until 1934, today the entire village is an architectural reserve displaying characteristic Strandzha wooden archit ...
. Its altitude varies from 400 to 60, making vegetation different from that in the other reserves.
Access to the reserves is restricted to research teams, with a few strictly defined tourist trails. Among the most significant protected areas are the Mouth of the Veleka river and
Silistar. Silistar is situated on the Black Sea coast between the villages of Sinemorets and Rezovo and has the highest number of plant species per square kilometre in Bulgaria.
Biology
Flora
In terms of biogeography the park falls within both the
Balkan mixed forests
The Balkan mixed forests are a terrestrial ecoregion of southeastern Europe according to both the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agency. It belongs in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests bio ...
, and the
Euxine-Colchic deciduous forests terrestrial
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
s of the
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
Th ...
temperate broadleaf and mixed forest
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions.
Thes ...
.
The combination of climate, specific geographic position and relief, as well as the lack of a strong anthropogenic influence, have contributed to the formation of 130 different
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
s, making Strandzha Nature Park first in that indicator among all protected areas in Europe. There are 1670 species of vascular plants which constitute 44% of the total number of species in Bulgaria.

The vegetation of the park includes many communities of a Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean type: warm oak forests with undergrowth of evergreen
sclerophyll
Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or ...
shrubs, such as tree heath (''
Erica arborea
''Erica arborea'', the tree heath or tree heather, is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. It is also cultivated as an o ...
''), butcher's-broom (''
Ruscus aculeatus
''Ruscus aculeatus'', known as butcher's-broom,
is a low evergreen dioecious Eurasian shrub, with flat shoots known as cladodes that give the appearance of stiff, spine-tipped leaves. Small greenish flowers appear in spring, and are borne sing ...
''), Rose of Sharon (''
Hypericum calycinum''), green olive tree (''
Phillyrea latifolia
''Phillyrea'' is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, and naturalized in the Canary Islands and Madeira.
They are evergreen shrubs or small trees growing to 3–9 m tall, related ...
''), ''
Cistus incanus
''Cistus'' (from the Greek ''kistos'') is a genus of flowering plants in the rockrose family Cistaceae, containing about 20 species (Ellul ''et al.'' 2002). They are perennial shrubs found on dry or rocky soils throughout the Mediterranean regio ...
'', sage-leaved rock rose (''
Cistus salvifolius
''Cistus salviifolius'', common names sage-leaved rock-rose, salvia cistus or Gallipoli rose, is a shrub of the family Cistaceae.
Etymology
The genus name ''Cistus'' derives from the Ancient Greek words ''κίσθος'' (''kisthos'') meaning bas ...
''), among others.
The xerothermic grasslands along the coast and in some areas to the west of the park have replaced forests destroyed by human activity. The most widespread floral communities of that type are dominated by ''
Chrysopogon gryllus'', ''
Bothriochloa ischaemum
''Bothriochloa ischaemum'' is a species of perennial grass in the family Poaceae, found throughout much of the world. It is commonly known as yellow bluestem. Two varieties are recognized, of which ''Bothriochloa ischaemum'' var. ''ischaemum'' i ...
'' and bulbous bluegrass (''
Poa bulbosa
''Poa bulbosa'' is a species of grass known by the common names bulbous bluegrass or bulbous meadow-grass. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, but it is present practically worldwide as an introduced species. It is widespread in the United ...
''). The coastal dunes are home to psammophytic vegetation. The river banks are covered with dense forests of black alder (''
Alnus glutinosa
''Alnus glutinosa'', the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family (biology), family Betulaceae, native plant, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. ...
''), white willow (''
Salix alba
''Salix alba'', the white willow, is a 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 No. 4. .Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain an ...
'') and crack willow (''
Salix fragilis ''Salix fragilis'' is a scientific name that has historically been used for two different willows:
* ''Salix euxina
''Salix euxina'', the eastern crack-willow, is a species of flowering plant in the willow family Salicaceae, native from Turkey ...
'').
Deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
forests cover 80% of the park's area and belong to 28 forest and 18 bush habitats.
This variety is due to the lower river valleys, the sea coast and the karstic terrain. These include forests of oriental beech (''
Fagus orientalis
''Fagus orientalis'', commonly known as the Oriental beech, is a deciduous tree in the beech family Fagaceae. It is native to Eurasia, in Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
Description
''Fagus orientalis'' is a large tree, capable of reaching he ...
''), sessile oak (''
Quercus petraea
''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Welsh oak, Cornish oak, Irish oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an un ...
''), Strandzhan oak (''
Quercus hartwissiana
''Quercus hartwissiana'', the Strandzha oak (), is a species of oak, native plant, native to southeastern Bulgaria, northern Asia Minor along the Black Sea, and the Caucasus. It was described by the Finnish-born Russian botanist and entomologist ...
''), Hungarian oak (''
Quercus frainetto
''Quercus frainetto'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonyms ''Quercus conferta'', ''Quercus farnetto''), commonly known as the Hungarian oak, is a species of oak, native plant, native to southeastern Europe (parts of Italy, the Balkans, parts of Hungary, ...
''), common hornbeam (''
Carpinus betulus
Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Common names
The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...
''), oriental hornbeam (''
Carpinus orientalis
''Carpinus orientalis'', known as the Oriental hornbeam, is a species of hornbeam in the birch family Betulaceae, subfamily Coryloideae, native to southeastern Europe and Western Asia. It is quite tolerant of dry conditions, and usually occurs on ...
'') and small-leaved lime (''
Tilia cordata
''Tilia cordata'', the small-leaved lime or small-leaved linden, is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to much of Europe. Other common names include little-leaf or littleleaf linden, or traditionally in South East England, pry or p ...
'') with undergrowth of pontic rhododendron (''
Rhododendron ponticum
''Rhododendron ponticum'', called common rhododendron or pontic rhododendron, is a species of flowering plant in the ''Rhododendron'' genus of the heath family Ericaceae. It is native to the Iberian Peninsula in southwest Europe and the Caucasus ...
''), Caucasian whortleberry (''
Vaccinium arctostaphylos
''Vaccinium arctostaphylos'' or Caucasian whortleberry is a species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color. It is native to Western Asia (Iran and Turkey), the Caucasus (Armenia; Azerbaijan; Georgia; Russia), and Southeastern Europe (Bulgaria). ...
''), cherry laurel (''
Prunus laurocerasus
''Prunus laurocerasus'', also known as cherry laurel, common laurel and sometimes English laurel in North America, is an evergreen species of cherry (''Prunus''), native to regions bordering the Black Sea in southwestern Asia and southeastern Eur ...
''), Black Sea holly (''
Ilex colchica
''Ilex colchica'', commonly known as Colchic- or Black Sea holly, is a species of holly native to Bulgaria, Turkey and the Caucasus.
The specific epithet ''colchica'' refers to Colchis
In classical antiquity and Greco-Roman geography, Colchi ...
''), Himalayan meadow primrose (''
Primula rosea'') and common heather (''
Calluna
''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wide ...
'').
There are 64
relict plant species, 6 of which cannot be found elsewhere in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
— Strandzhan oak, Caucasian whortleberry, Colchic holly, twin-flowered daphne (''
Daphne pontica
''Daphne pontica'', commonly known as twin-flowered or Pontic daphne, is a species of flowering plant in the family (biology), family Thymelaeaceae, native plant, native to Bulgaria, northern Turkey and the Caucasus. It is a small evergreen shrub ...
''), tutsan (''
Hypericum androsaemum'') and ''H. calycinum''.
The Pontic rhododendron is the symbol of the park and an important relict species with a highly disjunct areal in Europe where it inhabits only the north-western
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
and Strandzha. There are 56
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
plant species, including local endemics (''
Veronica turrilliana
''Veronica turrilliana'' () is a species of speedwell in the family Plantaginaceae, endemic to the Strandzha mountain range in south-eastern Bulgaria and north-western Turkey. It is included in the Red Book of Bulgaria as an endangered species ...
'' and ''
Anthemis jordanovii''), western Black Sea coast endemics (''
Silene caliacrae'' and ''
Lepidotrichum uechtrizianum''), 6 Bulgarian endemics (''
Pyrus bulgarica'', ''
Oenanthe millefolia ''Oenanthe'' can refer to:
Taxonomy
* ''Oenanthe'' (bird), a genus of birds in the family Muscicapidae
* ''Oenanthe'' (plant), a genus of plants in the family Apiaceae
Persons
* Oenanthe of Egypt (flourished 3rd century BC), Egyptian Greek no ...
'', ''
Galium bulgaricum'', ''
Veronica krumovii'', among others) and 40 Balkan endemics, such as ''
Saponaria stranjensis''.
113 species are listed in the
Red Book of Bulgaria, including several species that within Bulgaria can only be found in the park — ''
Ophrys reinholdii'', ''
Verbascum bugulifolium'', ''
Sideritis syriaca'', ''
Cistus laurifolius'', among others.
Fauna
Strandzha Nature Park has the richest vertebrate fauna among all protected areas in Bulgaria — 410 species, not counting 70 species of marine fishes.
There are 66 breeding
mammal
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
species. Among the most common are the
roe deer,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
grey 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 ...
,
golden jackal
The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called the common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller a ...
,
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 ...
,
European badger
The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to Europe and West Asia and parts of Central Asia. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List, as it has a w ...
, and
beech marten
The beech marten (''Martes foina''), also known as the stone marten, house marten or white breasted marten, is a species of marten native to much of Europe and Central Asia, though it has established a feral population in North America. It is li ...
. The park protects some of the largest and most important populations of
European otter
The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, European river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia and the Maghreb. The most widely distributed member o ...
and
wildcat
The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...
in Europe.
The
European pine marten
The European pine marten (''Martes martes''), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and parts of Iran, Iraq, and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red Lis ...
and
marbled polecat
The marbled polecat (''Vormela peregusna'') is a small mammal belonging to the genus ''Vormela'' within the mustelid subfamily Ictonychinae. ''Vormela'' is from the German language, German word , which means "little worm". The specific name (zool ...
are uncommon in Strandzha. There are 25
bat
Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...
species present including
Bechstein's bat
Bechstein's bat (''Myotis bechsteinii'') is a species of vesper bat found in Europe and western Asia, living in extensive areas of woodland.
Description
Bechstein's bat is a medium-sized and relatively long-eared bat. The adult has a long, fluf ...
and
Kuhl's pipistrelle
Kuhl's pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus kuhlii'') is a species of vesper bat that occurs in large areas of North Africa, Southern Europe and West Asia. It lives in temperate forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby ve ...
. 27 species of small mammals at the park include
European ground squirrel
The European ground squirrel (''Spermophilus citellus''), also known as the European souslik, is a species from the squirrel family, Sciuridae. It is among the few European species in the genus ''Spermophilus''. Like all squirrels, it is a membe ...
,
lesser mole-rat Lesser, from Eliezer (, "Help/Court of my God"), is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Adolf Lesser (1851–1926), German physician
* Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884), Polish painter and art critic
* Anton Lesser (born 1952), Bri ...
,
Günther's vole
Günther's vole (''Microtus guentheri'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae, also known by the name Levant vole.
It is found in Bulgaria, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Syria, Turke ...
, three
dormouse
A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their long, dormant hibe ...
species, and two other globally threatened species.
The park is an important sanctuary of the
Roach's mouse-tailed dormouse
The Roach's mouse-tailed dormouse or ground dormouse (''Myomimus roachi''), also known simply as the mouse-tailed dormouse, is a species of rodent in the family Gliridae. It is found in Bulgaria, European Turkey, and Greece.
Distribution
It is ...
.
There have been reports on the presence of
Mediterranean monk seal
The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the A ...
s in the rocks and caverns of Silistar.
Strandzha is situated on Via Pontica, the second-largest bird migratory route in Europe. The bays and estuaries along the Black Sea coast are a wintering destination for some birds. There are 269 avian species in the park, including populations of global importance of
white-backed woodpecker
The white-backed woodpecker (''Dendrocopos leucotos'') is a Eurasian woodpecker belonging to the genus ''Dendrocopos''.
Taxonomy
The white-backed woodpecker was described by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1802 under the b ...
,
semi-collared flycatcher,
olive-tree warbler
The olive-tree warbler (''Hippolais olivetorum'') is a species of passerine bird belongong to the family Acrocephalidae, the reed and tree warblers. It breeds in southeast Europe and the Near East. It is migratory, wintering in eastern and south ...
and
sombre tit
The sombre tit (''Poecile lugubris'') is a species of passerine bird belonging to the family Paridae, the “true” tits and chickadees. This species is found in southeast Europe and southwest Asia.
Taxonomy
The sombre tit was first formally ...
, as well as populations of European importance of
Egyptian vulture
The Egyptian vulture (''Neophron percnopterus''), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture in the monotypic genus ''Neophron''. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa ...
,
white stork
The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to en ...
,
black stork
The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, t ...
,
Eurasian eagle owl
The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is often just called the eagle-owl in Europe and Asia.
It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total ...
and four
eagle
Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
species.

There are 24 species of
reptile
Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...
s, 11 of which have a population of global significance. They include
red whip snake,
Aesculapian snake #REDIRECT Aesculapian snake
{{redirect category shell, {{R from another capitalisation{{R from move ...
,
European blind snake
''Xerotyphlops vermicularis'', the European blind snake, European worm snake, Eurasian blind snake, or Eurasian worm snake, is a species of snake in the genus ''Xerotyphlops.'' Despite its common name, the range of the European blind snake ranges ...
,
sheltopusik (Europe's largest lizard),
Kotschy's gecko
Kotschy's gecko (''Mediodactylus kotschyi)'' is a species of gecko, a lizard in the family Gekkonidae. The species is native to southeastern Europe and the Middle East. It is named in honour of the Austrian botanist and explorer Theodor Kotschy. ...
,
European pond turtle
The European pond turtle (''Emys orbicularis''), also called Common name, commonly the European pond terrapin and the European pond tortoise, is a species of long-living freshwater turtle in the Family (biology), family Emydidae. The species is E ...
,
Balkan pond turtle
The Balkan terrapin or western Caspian terrapin (''Mauremys rivulata'') is a species of terrapin in the family (biology), family Geoemydidae. It is found in the eastern Mediterranean region. While technically omnivorous, the terrapins are known ...
,
spur-thighed tortoise
Greek tortoise (''Testudo graeca''), also known as the spur-thighed tortoise or Moorish tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. It is a medium sized herbivorous testudinae, widely distributed in the Mediterranean basin, M ...
,
Hermann's tortoise
The Hermann's tortoise (''Testudo hermanni)'' is a species of tortoise native to Europe.
Etymology
The specific epithet, ''hermanni'', honors French naturalist Johann Hermann. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Epo ...
, etc.
The
sand lizard #REDIRECT Sand lizard
{{redirect category shell, {{R from alternative capitalisation{{R from move ...
, which is typical for western Bulgaria but very uncommon to the east, is also present in the park.
Ten
amphibian
Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...
species have been recorded, such as
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 ...
,
eastern spadefoot and
southern crested newt.
The absence of common reptiles and amphibians, such as
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 ...
,
common spadefoot
''Pelobates fuscus'' is a species of toad in the family Pelobatidae, native to an area extending from Central Europe to Western Asia. It is commonly known as the common spadefoot, garlic toad, the common spadefoot toad and the European common spa ...
and
common European viper, is noteworthy.
The ichthyofauna of the park is among the richest in Europe with 41 freshwater and
brackish water
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuary ...
species of fish, as well as 70 marine fish species.
There are nine Ponto-
Caspian Caspian can refer to:
*The Caspian Sea
*The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea
*The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea
*The Caspian languages spoken in northern Iran and southeastern Azerbaij ...
and five
boreal
Boreal, northern, of the north. Derived from the name of the god of the north wind from Ancient Greek civilisation, Boreas (god), Boreas. It may also refer to:
Climatology and geography
*Boreal (age), the first climatic phase of the Blytt-Sernand ...
relict species. The Ponto-Caspian dates from the ancient Sarmatian Sea. The boreal dates from the epoch of
Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...
cooling. The
Black Sea bleak and the
Bulgarian minnow
The Bulgarian minnow (''Phoxinus strandjae'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, minnows and related fishes. This fish is endemic to southeastern Europe and Anatolia.
Taxonom ...
are endemic species that can only be found in the Veleka and Rezovska drainages. There are several species restricted to the Black Sea basin (
vyrezub,
mushroom goby,
bighead goby,
toad goby,
tubenose goby,
western tubenose goby and
racer goby
The racer goby (''Babka gymnotrachelus'') is a species of goby native to fresh water, fresh, sometimes brackish water, brackish, waters, of the Black Sea basin. It is a Ponto-Caspian Relict (biology), relict species. The species is placed a monot ...
). The
round goby
The round goby (''Neogobius melanostomus'') is a euryhaline bottom-dwelling species of fish of the family (biology), family Gobiidae. It is native to Central Eurasia, including the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Round gobies have established larg ...
and
estuarine perch are found in the Caspian and Black Sea basins.
The invertebrate fauna is poorly studied. There are 80 Bulgarian and 4 local endemics, as well as 34 relict species.
Cultural heritage
History

The documented history of Strandzha dates back several millennia. The oldest traces of human habitation are stone axes and ceramic fragments found in the
Ahtopol
Ahtopol ( , ) is a town and seaside resort on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.
Geography Location
It is located on a headland in the southeastern part of Burgas Province and is close to the border with European Turkey. It is the south ...
peninsula and are dated from the
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period (c. 6000—3000 BC).
Since the mid-1st millennium BC the mountain was inhabited by the
Thracian
The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...
tribes
Thyni
The Thyni (; ) were a Thracian tribe that lived in south-eastern Thrace. The Thyni were closely related to the Bithynians, with whom they often exchanged troops and royal marriages, later a section of the Thyni, along with the Bithyni, migrated to ...
and
Asti
Asti ( , ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 74,348 inhabitants (1–1–2021) located in the Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, about east of Turin, in the plain of the Tanaro, Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and ...
and was part of the
Odrysian kingdom. The Thracians of Strandzha were infamous for their
pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
raids.
By the 2nd century BC, the power of the Odrysian kingdom declined and it became a
client state
A client state in the context of international relations is a State (polity), state that is economically, politically, and militarily subordinated to a more powerful controlling state. Alternative terms for a ''client state'' are satellite state, ...
of the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...
. However, it kept its independence until 46 BC, when it was annexed by the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
, forming the province of
Thracia
Thracia or Thrace () is the ancient name given to the southeastern Balkans, Balkan region, the land inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was ruled by the Odrysian kingdom during the Classical Greece, Classical and Hellenistic period, Hellenis ...
. The region remained part of the Roman Empire and its successor the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
. In Roman times, Strandzha was a centre of
copper
Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
and
iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...
mining and metallurgy.
In the late 6th and early 7th centuries the
Slavs
The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
settled in most of the Balkans, including Strandzha. The whole territory of the modern park was included in the
Bulgarian Empire Bulgarian Empire may refer to:
* First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led b ...
for the first time in the aftermath of the
Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 894–896
The Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 894–896 () was fought between the Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire as a result of the decision of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI to move the Bulgarian market from Constantinople to Thessalonica which ...
. Strandzha remained a contested region between Bulgaria and Byzantium throughout the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. In the 14th century, Bulgarian emperor
Ivan Alexander (r. 1331–1371) gave refuge to the
Hesychastic monk
Gregory of Sinai
Gregory of Sinai, or in Serbian and Bulgarian Grigorije Sinaita ( 1260s – 27 November 1346), was a Greek Christian monk and writer from Smyrna. He was instrumental in the emergence of hesychasm on Mount Athos in the early 14th century.
Bio ...
and provided funds for the construction of a monastery near
Paroria, in the homonymous protected area in the modern park, which attracted clerics from Bulgaria, Byzantium and Serbia.
The interior of the region fell to 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 ...
shortly after 1369 and the coastal towns were conquered in 1453.
Under Ottoman rule, many villages provided auxiliaries to the Ottoman army or had to protect the mountain passes and therefore enjoyed a more favourable status — they paid no taxes and the men had the right to bear arms. There were 17 privileged villages in the territory of the modern park where Muslims were not allowed to settle.
During the time of internal disorder in the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
in 1785–1810, brigand bands wreaked havoc in Strandzha resulting in the migration of thousands of people. Another massive migration wave followed the
Russo-Turkish War (1828–29)
The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...
and many Bulgarians settled in the southern areas of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
.
After the
Liberation of Bulgaria
The Liberation of Bulgaria is the historical process as a result of the Bulgarian Revival. In Bulgarian historiography, the liberation of Bulgaria refers to those events of the Tenth Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) that led to the re-establishme ...
in 1878, Strandzha remained outside the borders of the reborn state. In July 1903 in the historic area
Petrova Niva the delegates of the
Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Founded in 1893 in Salonica, it initia ...
(IMARO) discussed the outbreak of an anti-Ottoman rebellion. The
Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising
The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising (), consisting of the Ilinden Uprising (; ) and Preobrazhenie Uprising,Keith Brown (2013). Loyal Unto Death Trust and Terror in Revolutionary Macedonia. Indiana University Press. pp. 15-18. . was an organi ...
broke out in Strandzha and
Macedonia
Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to:
* North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia
* Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity
* Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...
in August 1903 and lasted for about twenty days before being suppressed by the Turks who committed great atrocities to the local population. Over 60 villages were burned down and thousands were massacred.
Strandzha was liberated during the
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...
(1912–1913) and formally joined Bulgaria after the
Second Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...
in 1913.
Archaeological and architectural heritage
The rich history of Strandzha has left important vestiges across the territory of the park. The Thracians worshipped a
Sun god as early as the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
and many of their rock sanctuaries and
dolmen
A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...
s have been preserved in Strandzha. One of the main characteristics is the presence of
megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...
structures.
Among the most important monuments of that epoch is the Thracian cult complex in
Mishkova Niva, one the south-eastern slopes of Golyamo Gradishte peak from Malko Tarnovo. The complex, constructed in honour of a local chief and high priest, included a domed mound, a fortified edifice for the priests, a mould necropolis, a mine and a fortress. The domed mound has a diameter of , built by three rows and white marble blocks, and has been preserved up to a height of . The fortress is situated on Golyamo Gradishte peak, the highest point of the park; its diameter is 10 and the walls are thick. In the 5th–3rd century BC it was a dolmen and it was reconstructed as a monumental sanctuary in the 3rd–2nd century BC. The complex had a prominent place in the religious life of the Thracian tribes from all over the mountain.
The Thracian necropolis of Propada, to the north-west of Malko Tarnovo, contains 40 burial mounds on a hill made of marble blocks. Coins discovered during the excavations prove the practice of
Charon's obol
Charon's obol is an allusive term for the coin placed in or on the mouth of a dead person before burial. Greek and Latin literary sources specify the coin as an obol, and explain it as a payment or bribe for Charon, the ferryman who conveyed s ...
. The ritual constitutes a coin being placed in or on the mouth of the dead person before burial as a payment for
Charon
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon ( ; ) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the worlds of the living and ...
, the ferryman who conveyed souls across the river that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead.
The top of the hill is crowned by a small domed tomb with similar construction plan to those of the
Thracian tombs of Kazanlak,
Aleksandrovo,
Mezek
Mezek () is a village in southeastern Bulgaria, part of Svilengrad municipality, Haskovo Province. It lies at the foot of the eastern Rhodope Mountains, just north of the Bulgaria–Greece border and not far west of the Bulgaria–Turkey border. ...
, etc. The necropolis was active until the 4th century AD.
Another sanctuary of interest is situated in Kamenska Barchina, from Malko Tarnovo. It is located in an area of
conglomerate rocks, which are relatively rare in Strandzha. There are many circles carved in the rock, associated with the sun cult and the preparation of sacred wine.
There were around 60 Thracian fortresses in Strandzha, many of which were used in the Middle Ages when churches were constructed in their inner yards. The fortresses were built of large stones without the use of mortar. Vestiges of those stronghold can be found near the villages of
Mladezhko,
Balgari
Balgari () is a village in Tsarevo Municipality, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly ...
,
Brodilovo, Malko Tarnovo, etc. The ruins of a fortress with church foundations are situated to the south-east of
Zvezdets.
There are ruins of several small early Byzantine castles along the coast between the rivers Veleka and Rezovska. These were part of the defensive system built by emperor
Justinian I
Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
(r. 527–565) against
Avar and Slavic incursions.
On a small cape to the south of Ahtopol are the ruins of the Church of St Yani which used to be part of a larger monastic complex. The only preserved section of the edifice is the
apse
In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...
.
During the
Ottoman rule
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...
the area was isolated, which influenced the formation of a local style of rural architecture. The Strandzhan wooden houses evolved in the 17th and 18th centuries.
They have a stone foundation and first floor and a wooden second storey. The walls, floors and ceilings are constructed from
oak
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
timber. The houses often follow an elongated plan — all rooms are arranged one after another. An important architectural element is the fireplace, built in stone, up to wide in its foundations and deep. It narrows in height and takes the shape of a truncated pyramid.
Examples of Strandzhan houses have been preserved in Malko Tarnovo,
Brashlyan
Brashlyan (, 'ivy') is a village in Malko Tarnovo Municipality, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria. Known as ''Sarmashik'' until 1934, today the entire village is an architectural reserve displaying characteristic Strandzha wooden archit ...
and
Kosti.
Ethnography and folklore
Historically the region has been a centre of Bulgarian culture.
Strandzha is inhabited by three ethnographic groups — the Ruptsi, Tronki and Zagortsi.
The Strandzhan or Eastern Ruptsi (called this way to distinguish them from the
Rhodopean Ruptsi) are considered the largest of the three groups. The etymology of the name is linked to the word ''ropa'' or ''rupa'', which means a "mine shaft" in the local dialects. They have preserved some vestiges of the pagan religious traditions and rites of the
Antiquity
Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to:
Historical objects or periods Artifacts
*Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures
Eras
Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
. They speak the
Strandzha dialect
The Strandzha dialect is a dialect of the Bulgarian language, member of the Rup or Southeastern Bulgarian dialects. The present range of the dialect includes the Bulgarian part of Strandzha. In the past, the dialect was spoken on a much larger ter ...
which is part of the
Rup dialects
The Rup dialects (), or the Southeastern dialects, are a group of Bulgarian dialects located east of the yat boundary, thus being part of the Eastern dialect. The range of the Rup dialects includes the southern part of Bulgaria, i.e. Strandzha, ...
and has preserved many words from the
Old Bulgarian
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic subgroup of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European ...
language.
The traditional Ruptsi settlements in the park are Balgari, Brashlyan,
Byala Voda,
Gramatikovo,
Kalovo,
Kondolovo, Malko Tarnovo,
Rezovo
Rezovo (, ) is a village and seaside resort in far southeastern Bulgaria, part of Tsarevo Municipality, Burgas Province, in the coastal Strandzha geographical region. It is situated on the Bulgaria–Turkey border.
Geography
The village is in S ...
,
Slivarovo,
Stoilovo,
Vizitsa,
and Zvezdets. After 1913 the Ruptsi who inhabited the territory of modern Turkey settled in the north-western regions of Strandzha.
Their main occupation was
livestock breeding
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. ...
, and especially
sheep
Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
breeding,
logging
Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucks[charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...]
production and mining.
The second largest group are the Tronki who inhabit mainly the areas to the north and to the west of the park in
Sredets Municipality
Sredets Municipality ( Bulgarian: Община Средец, ''Obshtina Sredets'') is a municipality in Burgas Province, Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the east ...
. They made a living mainly in agriculture but also in sheep and cattle breeding.
The Zagortsi inhabit the regions to the north of the park and are thought to have migrated from north-eastern Bulgaria.
The customs and rituals in Strandzha are related to specific days of the year, which in most cases coincide with the church holidays of the Christian calendar. They are traditionally divided into a summer (beginning on
St George's Day
Saint George's Day is the Calendar of saints, feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, regions, and cities of which he is the Patronages of Saint George, patron saint, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bu ...
, 6 May) and a winter period (beginning on
St Demetrius' Day, 26 October).
The largest festival in Strandzha is celebrated in mid-August in the historic area
Petrova Niva in commemoration of the
Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising
The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising (), consisting of the Ilinden Uprising (; ) and Preobrazhenie Uprising,Keith Brown (2013). Loyal Unto Death Trust and Terror in Revolutionary Macedonia. Indiana University Press. pp. 15-18. . was an organi ...
.

The most characteristic tradition in Strandzha is
Nestinarstvo
The Anastenaria (, ) is a traditional barefoot firewalking ritual with ecstatic dance performed in some villages in Northern Greece and Southern Bulgaria. The communities which celebrate this ritual are descended from refugees who entered Greec ...
, which involves a
barefoot dance on smouldering embers performed by ''nestinari''. The ritual was practised in several Bulgarian and Greek villages in the region and was first documented in 1862 by the Bulgarian poet
Petko Slaveykov
Petko Rachov Slaveykov () (17 November 1827 OS – 1 July 1895 OS ) was a Bulgarian poet, publicist, politician and folklorist.
Biography Early years and educational activity
Slaveykov was born in Tarnovo to the family of the coppersmith R ...
.
Some historians theorise that Nestinarstvo dates back to Thracian times.
The ritual is performed on the feast days of Saints Constantine and Helena on 3 and 4 June when a pilgrim procession consisting of all residents, led by nestinari carrying icons, heads to a holy spring near the village, where they consecrate the icons and dance ''
horo''. After sunset, the crowd makes a large fire about wide and 5 to thick and dances around it until the fire dies and only embers remain. The nestinari's barefoot dance on embers that follows as the climax of the night is accompanied by the beat of the sacred drum and the sound of a
gaida
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, Nor ...
(Bulgarian bagpipe). After the dance, the nestinari's feet do not show any trace of injury or burns.
In the past the ritual was performed in the villages of Brodilovo, Gramatikovo, Kondolovo, Kosti and Slivarevo but nowadays Nestinarstvo is preserved in its authentic form only in the village of Balgari.
Threats and conservation issues

The main threat to the park comes from the uncontrolled tourist development which has plagued the Bulgarian Black Sea coast since the early 1990s. So far, the coast of the Strandzha Nature Park has remained almost intact.
The most notable example is the case of the Golden Pearl hotel complex near the village of Varvara, whose construction commenced in 2006 on the territory of the part, supported by Tsarevo Municipality without ecological evaluation.
After protests the construction was declared illegal later that year but the mayor of Tsarevo and the investor appealed to the
Supreme Administrative Court of Bulgaria
The Supreme Administrative Court of Bulgaria was first established on 25 November 1878 as one of the three divisions of the then-single Supreme Court. It did not exist during the Communist rule, but was restored in 1991.
The purpose of the Cour ...
. In June 2007 the Court revoked the protected status of Strandzha Nature Park with order No. 6794/29.06.2007.
After mass protests the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
adopted legislation prohibiting the right to appeal to court orders of the government establishing protected areas.
In 2008 the Court declared the Golden Pearl hotel complex illegal and in 2012 the construction site was demolished.
The issues regarding the development of the park's coastline remain open. The Master Plan of Tsarevo Municipality adopted in 2008 and approved by the Ministry of Environment and Water envisages the construction of vacation complexes with 75,000 beds on the territory of the park and Natura 2000 network.
As a result, the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
launched an infringement procedure against Bulgaria that forced the Ministry to withdraw the positive environmental assessment of the Master Plan in 2010 but the decision was rejected by the Supreme Administrative Court.
The Strandzha Nature Park Management Plan drafted in 2003 has not yet meet with approval by the Ministry of Environment and Water.
See also
*
Geography of Bulgaria
Bulgaria is a country situated in Southeast Europe that occupies the eastern quarter of the Balkan peninsula, being the largest country within its geographic boundaries. It borders Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, G ...
*
List of protected areas of Bulgaria
This is a list of protected areas in Bulgaria which includes 3 national parks, 11 nature parks and 55 nature reserves. The national policy for governing and management of the protected areas is implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Wat ...
*
List of mountains in Bulgaria
Mountains constitute a significant part of Bulgaria and are dominant in the southwest and central parts. Bulgaria's highest mountains are Rila (highest peak Musala, 2925 m; the highest in the Balkans) and Pirin (highest peak Vihren, 2914 m). The ...
*
Bulgarian Black Sea Coast
The Bulgarian Black Sea Coast (), also known as the Bulgarian Riviera, covers the entire eastern bound of Bulgaria stretching from the Romanian Black Sea resorts in the north to European Turkey in the south, along 378 km of ...
*
Strandzha
Strandzha (, also transliterated as ''Strandja'', ; , or ) is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and East Thrace, the European part of Turkey. It is in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of Thrace to the west, th ...
Citations
Sources
References
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External links
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{{Tsarevo
Nature parks in Bulgaria
Geography of Burgas Province
Tourist attractions in Burgas Province
Bulgarian Black Sea Coast
Strandzha
Protected areas established in 1995
1995 establishments in Bulgaria