Zlia Zab (, meaning "The Evil Fang") is a summit in the northwestern part of the
Rila mountain range in southwestern
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
reaching height of 2,678 m.
It is located on the boundary between
Rila National Park
Rila National Park () is the largest national park in Bulgaria spanning an area of in the Rila mountain range in the south-west of the country. History
It was established on 24 February 1992 to protect several ecosystems of national importanc ...
and
Rila Monastery Nature Park
Rila Monastery Nature Park () is one of the largest nature parks in Bulgaria, spanning a territory of in the western part of the Rila mountain range at an altitude between . It is in Rila Municipality, Kyustendil Province and includes forests, m ...
.
Zlia Zab raises on the main orographic node of northwestern Rila east of the major summit of
Malyovitsa
Malyovitsa ( ) is a peak in the northwestern part of the Rila Mountain in southwestern Bulgaria. It is high and is one of the most popular tourist regions in the mountain. Its northern and eastern slopes are steep and almost inaccessible while t ...
(2,729 m) between the summits of Lovnitsa (2,695 m) to the east and
Orlovets (2,686 m), linked through rocky saddles. On the southern face of the saddles two dizzying
gullies descend to the valley of the
Rilska River
The Rilska River (, ''Rilska reka'', "Rila River") is a river in south-western Bulgaria, a left tributary of the Struma (river), Struma. The river is 51 km long and drains the western sections of the Rila mountain range.
Geography
Under t ...
some 1,200 m below, called the White and the Blue Gully.
From the very summit to the south begins a rocky ridge that reaches a rock opening called Halkata (the Ring); after it, the ridge splits, enclosing the Devil's Gully, the steepest of the gullies in the region, with almost vertical sills in places. On the eastern fork of the ridge are the Devil's Needles. On the western fork are the summits of
Dvuglav (2,605 m) and
Iglata (2,575 m), which together with Zlia Zab form a remarkable massif.
The summit is named Zlia Zab because of its very characteristic shape, reminiscent of a sharp dog's fang seen from the south.
Zlia Zab is an important site for rock climbing and mountaineering,
including a 200 m wall with one of the most renown climbing routes in Bulgaria — Vezhdite.
Gallery
File:Rila Mountains, Bulgaria.jpg, Zlia Zab (right), Dvuglav and Iglata
File:Злия зъб - panoramio.jpg, Zlia Zab from the east
Citations
References
*
*
* {{cite book , ref={{harvid, Grancharov, 2000
, title = Върховете на Рила. Пътеводител към високата планина
, trans-title = The Summits of Rila. Guide to the High Mountain
, last1 = Грънчаров (Grancharov)
, first1 = Румен (Rumen)
, year = 2000
, language = Bulgarian
, publisher =
, location = София (Sofia)
, isbn =
Mountains of Rila
Landforms of Kyustendil Province
Landforms of Sofia Province
Two-thousanders of Bulgaria