SOFIA 611Fresco of the Last Judgment,
National History Museum
Mount Vitosha q
Витоша12 km (7 miles) S of Sofia.
Map A5. @ 66 to Aleko; 64, 93
to Dragalevtsi; 122 to Simeonovo:
all from Hladilnika Bus Terminus (on
tram route nos. 9 & 10). n (02) 989Rising above Sofia’s southern
suburbs, the granite massif
of Mount Vitosha provides
Bulgaria’s capital with an easily
acces sible recreation area. The
top of the mountain is rela-
tively smooth, making it the
ideal terrain for easy hikes.
Acres of beech forest cover the
lower slopes, while spruce
and pine pre dominate further
up. The mountain’s highest
point, the 2,290-m (7,500-ft)
Cherni Vruh (Black Peak), is
sur rounded by a plateau
covered in grassland, juniper
bushes and bogs. Protected
since 1934, Vitosha provides a
safe, natural habitat for
martens, deer, wild boar and,
occa sionally, brown bears.
Vitosha’s main recreational
centre, connected to the city
by road and within easy reach
of the summit, is Aleko. Built
in 1924, the mountain hut here
is a popular starting point for
hikers in summer; in winter,
it becomes the centre of a
busy ski scene. The pleas ant
surburbs of Dragalevtsi and
Simeonovo, nestling in the
foothills, make a good base
for exploring the region.
The 14th-century DragalevtsiConspicuous Stone River at Zlatni
Mostove, Mount VitoshaMagnificent view of Cherni Vruh, Vitosha’s highest pointMonastery, set in deep
forest just above the su*burbs,
con tains stunning 15th-cen-
tury frescoes.
Chairlifts and cable cars
run from Dragalevtsi and
Simeonovo, providing
excellent views over Sofia.
The summit of Cherni Vruh
is about an hour’s walk from
Aleko, or a 30-minute walk
above the last stop of the
highest chairlift, when they
are running.
On the western side of
Mount Vitosha lies Zlatni
Mostove, which features the
spectacular Stone River, a
popular natural attraction
with huge, smooth boulders
depo sited by a glacier in the
last Ice Age.The building was once a
Communist Party palace, so
touring the vast rooms is
interesting in itself, just to see
how Communist leaders lived.
On the first floor, the
prehistory section features a
clay figure called the Earth
Mother statue, found near
Tûrgovishte in northeastern
Bulgaria. Just 14 cm (5.5 in)
high, it is believed to be
about 6,500 years old. Other
highlights include the 3rd-cen-
tury BC Thracian gold trea-
sures from Panagyurishte in
western Bulgaria, which con-
sist of eight richly deco rated
gold rhytons (drinking vessels).
The second floor of the
museum includes displays
from the 6th millenium BC to
the late 19th century AD.
Displays cover artefacts from
the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and
Bronze Ages, jewellery and
treasure from the Thracian
and Greek settlements as well
as manuscripts from the 7th
to the 14th centuries, includ-
ing the richly decorated Tzar
Ivan Alexzander's Gospel.
The third floor of the
museum is devoted to modern
history, with military uniforms,
hard ware and theatrical memo-
ra bilia. It also houses a collec-
tion of traditional costumes
from all over Bulgaria, includ-
ing metal pafti (belt buckles)
embossed with animals, fig-
ures of saints and abstract
designs. Cinema pos ters and
other exhibits taken from the
world of enter tain ment and
popular culture are part of
the dis play devoted to 20th-
cen tury life.