The
Stone Mushrooms – they are situated south of
the village of Beli Plast, District of Kardzhali. They
cover an area of 30 decares. Those are harmonious rock
chunks in the shape of natural mushrooms, with pink
stumps and greenish hoods. The stumps’ height and the
hoods’ width is about 2.5 m, and they are carved out
in regolith volcanic tuffs. The pink coloration is due
to the mineral Clinoptilolite, while the gray and black
spots on the stumps are manganese concretions. The mineral
Seladonite lends the hoods a greenish hue. The tuffs
the stone mushrooms were formed from also came about
in result of intense underwater volcanic activity dating
from the time of the Paleocene. After the sea withdrew
and the sea bottom gradually rose, they began to be
influenced by erosion. The lower pink layer proved softer
and it yielded to the influence of the sun, the wind
and the rain more readily. The upper, greenish layer
contains more stable minerals, mostly volcanic glass,
and it is harder to wither away. Thus, over the course
of millennia, was this exquisite composition formed
of unique shapes and colors.
The
Stone Wedding – it is located close to the
village of Zimzelen, at about 3 km south of Kardzhali
town. It is made up of rock formations resembling people,
horses, birds, pillars carved amid Eocene volcanic tuffs
by the sun and the wind over millions of years. The
presence of various metal oxides in the rocks lends
them a profusion of tints of pink, red, and brown. As
the legend goes, that was a wedding procession turned
to stone by Nature who was outraged by the bridegroom’s
father’s evil thoughts addressed at the bride. The formation
of this natural composition started 40 million years
ago when the Eastern Rhodopes mountain were the bottom
of a warm shallow sea shaken by an incessant volcanic
activity. From the settled volcanic ash and from stone
chunks, beautiful rocks were formed – regolith tuffs.
After the sea retreated, in result of vertical shifts
of the earth’s crust, they rose and became exposed to
the influence of nature. Thus this marvelous natural
phenomenon was formed which was pronounced a protected
site in 1974.
The
Belite brezi resort – one of the most picturesque
spots in the area of the Ardino Municipalty. It is 30
km away from Kardzhali and 6 km away from Ardino. It
is the sole natural habitat of the white birch in the
Rhodopes. Such places are rare in the context of the
whole country. The forest is a mosaic of birch, beech,
and pine. The combination of those species of tree purifies
the air while the phytocides emitted by the birches
sterilize it, the pines aromatize it, and the beeches
infuse oxygen in it. It was declared a resort of local
significance whose air cures lung and allergic conditions.
The total area is 4,000 decares. The birches prevail,
but there is also beech, white and black pine, spruce
etc.
Rock Window
It
is located in Golemiya dol (the Big Ravine) next to
the village of Kostino, District of Kardzhali. The Rock
Window is a magnificent natural rock bridge hanging
in midair, with its platform clipped on all sides. In
the near geological past, the pillars had been three,
but the forces of nature severed the platform between
the 2nd and 3rd pillar so that today the latter is like
a big stone mushroom whose hood is part of the platform.
The bridge is 10 m high, 15 m long, and 7 m wide; the
platform is 1.5 m thick, the three pillars are equal
in height, made up as they are of massive green volcanic
tuffs, without layering. The platform is white, wrought
of thin-layered white limestone, very resistant to the
processes of erosion. That is the reason why it sticks
out above the pillars. The Rock Window is the coeval
of the Stone Wedding and the Stone Mushrooms. It was
made up of similar materials and in a similar manner,
too. It was pronounced a protected natural site in 1975.
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