Kaliakra ' onMouseout='HidePop("95202")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Thracian_language">Thracian
The Thracian language was the Indo-European language spoken in ancient times by the Thracians in South-Eastern Europe.-Geographic distribution:...
:
Tirizis, , , ) is a long and narrow
headlandHeadlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment.- Geology and geography :Headlands and bays are often found together on the same stretch of coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are...
in the
Southern DobrujaSouthern Dobruja is an area of north-eastern Bulgaria comprising the administrative districts named for its two principal cities of Dobrich and Silistra...
region of the northern
Bulgarian Black Sea CoastThe Bulgarian Black Sea Riviera covers the entire eastern bound of Bulgaria stretching from the Romanian Black Sea Riviera in the north to European Turkey in the south, along 378 km of coastline. White and golden sandy beaches occupy approximately 130 km of the 378 km long coast...
, located 12 km east of
KavarnaKavarna is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Dobruja region of northeastern Bulgaria. It lies 64 km northeast of Varna and 49 km from Dobrich on the international road E87. The population is about 12,500. A little yacht port, a fishing base, a spacious beach and a resort...
and 60 km northeast of
VarnaVarna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in Northern Bulgaria, third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, and 77th-largest in the European Union, with a population of 355,450 .Commonly referred to as the marine capital of Bulgaria, Varna is a...
. The coast is steep with vertical cliffs reaching 70 m down to the sea.
Kaliakra is a nature reserve, where
dolphinDolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly...
s,
cormorantThe bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...
s and
pinnipedPinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae...
s can be observed. It also features the remnants of the fortified walls, water-main, baths and residence of
DespotDespot , was a Byzantine court title, also granted in the states under Byzantine influence, such as the Latin Empire, Bulgaria, Serbia, and the Empire of Trebizond...
DobrotitsaDobrotitsa was a Bulgarian noble, ruler of the de facto independent Principality of Karvuna and the Kaliakra fortress from 1354 to 1379–1386...
in the short-lived
Principality of KarvunaThe Principality of Karvuna was a 14th-century quasi-independent state in the region of modern Dobruja. It emerged as a polity under the influence of the Byzantine Empire, and probably had a population composed of Bulgarians, Gagauz, Greeks, Tatars, and Vlachs.The principality's name is derived...
's medieval capital. The
coveA cove is a circular or oval coastal inlet with a narrow entrance. Colloquially, the term can be used to describe a sheltered bay.Coves are the results of waves attacking the weakness of rocks, infiltrating them to result in inlets...
Bolata with a small sheltered beach lies just north at the mouth of a picturesque canyon, also part of the nature reserve.
Name and history
The name "Kaliakra" is of Byzantine Greek origin. It is a combination of "καλός" ("beautiful") and "άκρα" ("headland" or "fortress") and is traditionally translated as "Beautiful Headland".
Kaliakra was the site of the naval
Battle of Cape KaliakraThe Battle of Cape Kaliakra was the last naval battle of the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792. It took place on 11 August 1791 off the coast of northern Bulgaria in the Black Sea...
on 11 August 1791, part of the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792.
The first modern
lighthouseA lighthouse is a tower, building, or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire and used as an aid to navigation and to pilots at sea....
on Kaliakra was built in 1866 by the Compagnie des Phares de l’Empire Ottomane; the present one (a 10-m cylindrical stone masonry tower with lantern and gallery) was erected in 1901, with focal plane height of 68 m and a white flash (every 5 seconds); it also has a
radio navigationRadio navigation or radionavigation is the application of radio frequencies to determining a position on the Earth. Like radiolocation, it is a type of radiodetermination.The basic principles are measurements from/to electric beacons, especially...
emitter and a
foghornA foghorn or "fog signal" or "fog bell" is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of hazards in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport...
.
Near Kaliakra, there is a large
mediumwave broadcasting facilityKaliakra transmitter is a huge facility for mediumwave broadcasting, which was built after 1988 by former Soviet Union as relay transmitter for Southeast Europe. After the collapse of communism in 1989, there was no requirement for this facility and work was stopped. At that point of time 9 of the...
, which went never in service as planned. Currently (2009), several
wind powerWind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as electricity, using wind turbines. At the end of 2008, worldwide nameplate capacity of wind-powered generators was 121.2 gigawatts . In 2008, wind power produced about 1.5% of worldwide electricity usage; and is...
facilities are under development in the vicinity.
Legends
Probably the most popular legend about the place is the one about 40 Bulgarian girls, who preferred to tie their hair together and jump into the
Black Seaur a loser!The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to...
instead of the prospect to be captured by the
OttomansThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
. An
obeliskAn obelisk is a tall, narrow, four-sided, tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top...
dedicated to this legend is placed at the entrance to the cape, called
The Gate of the 40 Maidens.
Another legend tells the story of St Nicholas, the patron of seamen, who was running away from the Ottomans and God was making the earth under him longer and longer, so he could escape, and the cape was formed this way. The saint was eventually captured and a chapel was built in 1993, symbolizing his grave. A
dervishA Dervish or Darvesh is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus....
monastery is also said to have existed on the same place during Ottoman rule, which is thought to have preserved the relics of
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
BektashiBektashism is an Islamic Sufi order , considered to be a distinct branch of Twelver Shi'a Islam. It was founded in the 13th century by the Islamic saint Hajji Bektash Wali...
saint
Sarı Saltık.
A third legend is about
LysimachusFor other uses, see Lysimachus Lysimachus was a Macedonian officer and diadochus of Alexander the Great, who became a basileus in 306 BCE, ruling Thrace, Asia Minor andMacedonia.-Early career:Lysimachus was born in 362/361 BC, the son of the Thessalian Agathocles from Crannon...
, a successor of
Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
, who seized the royal treasure and escaped to Kaliakra, dying in a major storm along with his whole fleet.
Honour
Kaliakra GlacierKaliakra Glacier is a glacier in northeastern Livingston Island, Antarctica extending 7 km in E-W direction and 8 km in N-S direction...
on Livingston Island in the
South Shetland IslandsThe South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about 120 kilometres north of the Antarctic Peninsula. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for non-military...
,
Antarctica| style="border-top:solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding:0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align:top;" | 14,000,000 km
2 280,000 km
2 13,720,000 km
2 |-! style="border-top: solid 1px #ccd2d9; padding: 0.4em 1em 0.4em 0; vertical-align: top;...
is named after Kaliakra.