Pobitite Kamuni, Varna, Bulgaria

Pobiti Kamani also known as The Stone Desert, is a desert-like rock phenomenon located on the north west Varna Province border in Bulgaria.

The estimate terrain elevation above seal level is 165 metres. 

Variant forms of spelling for Pobitite Kamŭni or in other languages: Dikilitaš, Pobite Kamăni, Dikilitash, Pobiti Kamuni, Dikili-Tach, Pobitite Kamăni, Побитите Камъни (bg), Pobitite Kamŭni, Dikili-Tach, Dikilitas, Dikilitash, Dikilitaš, Pobite Kamani, Pobite Kamăni, Pobiti Kamuni, Pobitite Kamani, Pobitite Kamuni, Pobitite Kamăni, Pobitite Kamŭni, Побитите Камъни. 

THE LEGEND OF ,,THE BROKEN STONES''

Long ago, when the sea reached these lands, it was protected by titans. Not far from the place was a small village where a young man lived.

When God revealed his name to him, he doomed him to keep this great secret forever. That is why he was immortal. However, God warned him that if he was tempted to reveal his name, he would become mortal again.

One early morning, the man was walking along the beach and saw an incredibly beautiful local girl. When the two met, they fell in love at first sight. But when the man returned to the village and asked the locals about her, they told him that this girl was destined to become the wife of the leader of the sea titans. However, love gave him the courage to go to the Titans. He promised them that if they gave him the girl, he was ready to fulfill one of their wishes. After some thought, they turned to him and told him that the girl would be his wife only if she agreed to reveal the name of God to them. He asked for a day to consider the offer and arranged with the seakeepers to meet the next day before the sun rose.

The next morning, before sunrise, they met on the beach. The young man was determined to sacrifice his immortality in the name of love. He told them that he was ready to reveal the name of the god. Then, the man began to line up the Titans on the beach. When the Titans were lined up, he told them, "I just wrote the name of God with your bodies."

At that moment, God watched everything from above and was struck by this incredible act in the name of love. Then he decided to punish the Titans for encroaching on the young man's most precious thing - his immortality.

When the first rays of the sun shone on the beach, the sea guards instantly turned into stone columns, standing in the way the man had arranged them. Soon after, the man went ashore to find his beloved again.

Legend has it that when they met and hugged, a spring with miraculous healing water gushed from under their feet.

Madara Rider, Shumen, Bulgaria

The Madara Rider is a unique relief, an exceptional work of art, created during the first years of the formation of the Bulgarian State, at the beginning of the 8th century. It is the only relief of its kind, having no parallel in Europe. It has survived in its authentic state, with no alternation in the past or the present.

It is outstanding not only as a work of Bulgarian sculpture, with its characteristically realist tendencies, but also as a piece of historical source material dating from the earliest years of the establishment of the Bulgarian state. The inscriptions around the relief are, in fact, a chronicle of important events concerning the reigns of very famous Khans: Tervel, Kormisos and Omurtag.    

Criterion (i): The Madara Rider is an exceptional work of art dating from the beginning of the 8th century. It is the only relief of its kind, having no parallel in Europe.

Criterion (iii): The Madara Rider is outstanding not only as a work of the realist Bulgarian sculpture but also as a piece of historical source material from the earliest years of the Bulgarian state, since the inscriptions around the relief chronicle events in the reigns of famous Khans.

The Wonderful Rocks (Чудните скали), Asparuhovo, Bulgaria

The rock phenomenon "Wonderful Rocks" is located 4 km from the village of Asparuhovo, Dulgopol municipality, Varna district. It was declared a natural landmark by Decree of the Council of Ministers No. 1869 of February 17, 1949.

"Wonderful rocks" are an array of about a dozen beautiful rock needles with a height of 40-50 m, resembling castle towers. They are formed by the impact of water and wind on limestone. The rocks arise directly from the shores of Tsonevo Dam.

The phenomenon consists of three massifs, along their entire length three tunnels have been dug, through which passes a road made of crushed stones. 

Because they are visible from the main road, the rocks often attract travelers who stop to enjoy the view. Оpposite the "Wonderful Rocks" is the eponymous hut, which offers accommodation.

There are many interesting caves, rock massifs and holes in the area, some inhabited by large birds of prey.