The first geopark in Bulgaria “Iskar-Panega” attracts with bizarre rock formations and preserved local species
The Lukovit region – a little-known destination until a year ago, is becoming more and more interesting for tourists. The flow of tourists is increasing daily, especially during the pandemic.
The Geopark offers peace, coolness and pleasant experiences. It was built with European funding in 2005-2006 at the initiative of the Bulgarian Association for Rural Ecotourism, one of the initiators of the project, engineer Vladimir Daskalov from Lukovit, told BTA.
“Unfortunately, we were not an established tourist destination, but during the human pandemic, when hotels and day-trip resorts were closed, people found a wonderful recreation ground. , which is a kind of national record,” Daskalov pointed out.
At the entrance to the geopark, next to the main road Sofia – Lukovit – Ruse, a large parking lot has been built. Maket invites visitors to deviate from the main road about eight kilometers to visit the longest rock bridge in Europe, the second longest in the world – Prohodna cave.
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Immediately below the entrance to the parking lot is the area “Kuklite” – rock formations created by nature in the format of dolls. From there, visitors go for a walk along the valley and canyon of the Zlatna Panega River. It springs in the land of the village of the same name and has a flow rate of 200 to 2 thousand liters per second. “The perfectly emerald clear water has a high calcium carbonate content and thus its turquoise color impresses all tourists.
In the geopark, tourists can walk on land and on water. The pedestrian part of the eco-path is 1500 meters long in one direction. You pass through several bridges, a wooden walkway attached to the rocks, the “Dark Hole” cave, places for recreation and you reach the end of the eco-path – a whole recreation complex with tables, benches, barbecue and beautiful panoramas.
A main attraction for tourists is boating
Access further into the “Kotlen” locality is only by water. The main attraction for tourists is the trip with boats, canoes, kayaks and other water equipment, which is 3500 meters long. Along the river bed, you reach the dam of the dam wall of the “Syndicata” hydroelectric power plant, built from 1922 to 1938 by local farmers with turbines that still produce electricity today. The depth of the dam is nine meters.
“With the boat we see the diverse vegetation of dam water that exists here, the birds have found this perfect reception because of the lack of predators to chase them. The tip of the fact that the Zlatna Panega River springs about 10 km from us, the temperature of the karst spring is 12 degrees,” said Daskalov.
According to him, the place is also suitable for fishing. Since there are no pollutants, there are Balkan trout, flounder, pike and all other fish known by geographical latitudes. Every year, families of black storks, as well as all kinds of waterfowl, find their home in the area.
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“I think that everyone would like the beautifully preserved nature. On the territory of the Karluk Karst is the largest karst region in Europe, and the biggest landmark is the rock bridge – Prohodna cave – the second longest in the world and the most the long During the time “Prokhodna” was an attraction center with its bizarre shapes, but immediately next to it there are two more caves – “Bankovitsa” and “Svirchovitsa”, pointed out Daskalov.
According to him, training in speleology is carried out in the “Bankovitsa” cave. In the “Svirchovitsa” cave, the peculiarity is the specific microclimate, because it was discovered. The interior sunlight penetrates, but the temperature is 12 degrees, as it is in all other caves all year round, and on the surface it can reach over 40 degrees. The flora and fauna of these areas are preserved to this day in the cave.
Another great natural phenomenon is the “Provertenik” rock. What is special about it is that there are openings at the top through which the sun’s rays pass during the summer and winter solstice.
“Besides rich chlorine and fauna, the rich diversity of rocky formations, we also have a rich cultural and historical heritage, which we must develop and popularize,” Vladimir Daskalov also states.