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The Stob pyramids are located near the village of
Stob, in the western approaches of the Rila mountain. These are stone and earth
formations, 30-40 m deep. The sediments are coloured rusty-brown, reddish
and dark yellow and, because of their location, the pyramids are especially
beautiful at sunset or at moonlight. |
| Many of the formations are crowned with
rock "hats" - large stone blocks sizing 120 by 80 cm. |
| Under the influence of wind, rain and snow,
the form of the pyramids changes, some of them vanish, the stone hats fall and
new pyramids are born. |
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| The pyramids are separated in two distinct
groups, called by the people with many different names - Kulite ("The Towers"),
Chukite ("The Rocky peaks"), Samodivskite komini ("The Samodivas' chimneys",
the samodivas are mythical female creatures living in the forests), Neviastata
("The Bride") etc. The most famous group is called Svatovete ("The In-laws"). |
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According to the legend, many years ago a wedding procession from the
nearby village of Kolibite took a young girl from the Stob village as a
bride. The custom in those days was that the bride must be chosen and
bought by the relatives of the groom for him to marry her. Also the young
couple must not know each other, so the girl had her face veiled.
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| When the wedding procession passed by the southern slope of Kulski
rid, strong mountain wind blew and raised the veil ofthe bride
reveiling her face. She was so beautiful, that the groom's best man tried to
kiss her. Outraged by the sinful act of the best man, the in-laws turned
to stone and stayed like this forever – magnificent with their stone hats...
There is also a legend about the doomed love between a Bulgarian girl and a
Turkish boy. They could never marry because of their different religions.
Desperate, the girl threw herself off the rock and on this spot a pyramid
formed which was called Neviastata ("The bride").
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| A mighty stone tower once existed on this site. It was
told to be as high as the Rila mountain and from its top one could see as
far Macedonia. The tower was of great importance to the local towns and
hamlets and despite their beauty the site where the pyramids
now stand was then known as Kulata ("The Tower"). But a strong
earthquake cracked it and it crumbled. |
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