Kalofer

The small and lovely town Kalofer is situated at the southern foothills the Central Balkan Mountain Range. The name of the town is connected with the legend about heroes, whose spirit is still alive among the native citizens.

You can reach Kalofer driving down the main route called “Podbalkanska linia”. It is 158 km east of Sofia between Karlovo and Kazanlak. The town is a starting point to many tourist routes in the natural reserve “Central Balkan”. Today there are tourists climbing the paths to Raiskoto Praskalo waterfall and Botev peak, where the rebels of Kalofer the hero were roaming a long tine ago. The legend tells that he robbed the Turkish caravans passing through the mountain. The Sultan sent his army many times, but the clever leader was elusive. At last the Sultan gave him permission to build a town, where Turks could not enter with weapons, and Kalifer the Hero stopped robbing the caravans. The story happened in 16 century and nowadays Kalofer welcomes many tourists. Although the town is small it offers many interesting attractions to its guests.

Right in the heart of the town, next to the Tunzha River cosy mehanas offering traditional cuisine are situated, where you can relax after a long day, to meet with friends before a walk in the Balkan or to render yourself to a lavish feast, if you spend the night in town.

For my great regret I couldn’t stay for the night and I even didn’t have time enough to try some of these mehanas, but just the aroma, that was floating in the air suggested me what I was missing. From the central square I headed through the stone bridges over the river and started towards memorial complex “Hristo Botev”. Kalofer is the birth town of the great poet and revolutionary and everything here talks and reminds of him. The complex is rising above the town and a marvelous view is reviled from it. It is an impressive statue of Hristo Botev and numerous scenes from the national liberation movement are presented right next to it. The central square of the town could be seen at the foot of the monument. To the left is the school of Daskal Botio (teacher), and to the right is the church “St Mary”. Further down is the birth house of Hristo Botev and right next to it is the museum building. Later I learned that the house is a real copy, as during the Russian – Turkish war it was demolished. In the building of the Daskal Botio School are situated the art gallery and the museum of education. Here Hristo Botev pronounced an ardent speech against the Turkish authority, afterwards he was forced to immigrate.

I wanted to go up in the mountain, after I finished with the towns’ sightseeing, to reach the Raisko Praskalo (Paradise spray) – the highest waterfall in Bulgaria. However for my regret the spray came to me and it wasn’t “paradise” at all. Heavy rainfall reached me and there was no chance to stop soon. Thus I was forced to change my plans and leave Kalofer, may be some other day I will go to the Raisko Praskalo and Botev peak and will tell you more about them. However you should all know that it is best to go there on your own as, I am sure that there are no words which can describe these marvelous sites.

Photos from Kalofer