Rila, Pirin, Rhodopes, Slavyanka, Strandzha, Vitosha, Belasitsa, Stara Planina, Sakar and others. With its 40 mountains , Bulgaria is considered as a mountain country. All mountains, apart from a small number of peaks, are a subject to a tourist and sport activity. The Bulgarian mountains are amazingly varied. The only thing missing here are the biggest heights and the snow- and glacier lines. Craggy and definitely alpine, rounded and sheer, small and big, un-wooded and full of trees, low or high, all they are accessible all year round. The trips in nature reveal the richness of the Bulgarian mountains with their marvelous lakes, rivers, lovely waterfalls. Wild eco-routes make the nature-fans hold their breath. Every mountain in Bulgaria have its charm and its secrets. Being so beautiful, varied and accessible, the Bulgarian mountains are an attraction for the local and international tourism. The Bulgarian mountains offer

ideal opportunities for alpinism. The alpine sites in Bulgaria are many. The leader mount Mussala (2925 metres) is the highest peak not only in Rila mountains but also on the Balkan peninsula. Mount Radomir (2029 metres) is hard to climb in both directions and the passage is for at least 8 hours. A big share of it passes through century-old forests of wild chestnuts and walnut-трееs. Still there is a dirt road leading to this peak. Belasitsa is considered as one of our steepest mountains. The opportunities for walking tourism are limitless. For the needs of this type of tourism, over 300 huts and alpine shelters have been built in the Bulgarian mountains. The close-meshed net allows even the longest mountain passage to be completed in one day. There are offered very good conditions for different mountain sports as kayaking, mountain marathon, hand gliding and paragliding, mountain biking and rafting. In some regions there are virgin areas with almost

The pride of the historical past of our folk. Pride of its skills to build in a fine way, of the mastery of architects and con painters. The old settlement Arbanasi is located 3 kilometres northeast of Veliko Tarnovo, on a high plateau viewing the Tsarevets and Trapezitsa hills. The village prospered in the 17th and 18th centuries. Then it became a centre for crafts and trade. In that period most of its magnificent houses were raised. The oldest houses in Arbanasi are built complete-
ly of stones and remind on fortresses which cannot be seen anywhere else in Bulgaria. The windows, the doors and ceilings as a part of the internal design are ornamented with a florid wood-carving and the walls are decorated with gesso elements. The monumental houses and churches have a rich internal decorative trimming, carving and frescos created in the 16th to the 17th centuries. After the King`s edict from the 1921 the village is declared a resort and in the 2000 - a ‘historic village’ of a national importance. The unique Bulgarian architectu-
re from the Revival period in the 16th and 17th centu-

Sails and anchors in Varna Seven of the biggest sailing ships class "А" took part in the Historical Seas Toll Ships Regatta 2010. Varna was one the hosting cities. For a first time the Regatta was organized in the region of the Aegean and Black seas. At the Varna Passenger Terminal berthed 22 sailing ships from 16 nations. More than 30 ships took part in

the Regatta. In the competition participated military ships, too who also traditionally take part in the Tall Ships. Small sailing yachts also started. Their number was about 150. Around 1 million tourists arrived in Varna during the days of the Sailing Regatta. The itinerary of the sailing ships was following the route of Jason and the Argonauts. The most attractive event called the ‘Sails parade’ surprised everybody nicely.In this parade all participating in the Regatta sailing boats sailed in procession in the

Gulf of Varna. The biggest ship as well as the winner was the Russian sailing ship ‘Mir’. From a Bulgarian side the winner was the Barquentine ‘Kaliakra’. The first leg of the Regatta in the Black Sea started from the Greek port Volos to Varna. The second leg which started on the 24th of May was from Varna to Istanbul.

Cape Kaliakra is the picturesque end of the Kaliakra peninsula in the Northbulgarian Black sea coast. Situated 12 kilometres east of Kavarna and 60 kilometres northeast of Varna, this is a close and accessible touristic destination. Cape Kaliakra is one of the most beautiful places along the Bulgarian sea-side. Sheer rocks and steep slopes slant 70 metres down to the sea. They are remains of the former shallow Sarmatian sea. The formations are made of hard limestones and conglomerates. Many natural caves with a form of a room can be found on the cape. In one of them the rock opens a vaulted window over the giant precipice. That is called ‘The gate of the 40 Maidens’. These girls jumped into the sea, their hairs tied together, to escape from the Ottoman conquerors. The crimson-red coloration of the cape origins from the iron

oxides which predominate here. Still in the ancient times there was a fotress built here because of the inaccessibility of the rocks.The earliest documents about the inhabitation of the cape date back to the IV c. B.C. By that time Kaliakra was inhabited by the Tracian tribe Tirizians who gave the first name of the local fortress – Tirizis. One of the successors of Alexander the Great–Lyzimachus–inherited