LEGENDS, ABOUT THE CAPE KALIAKRA
ABOUT THE CAPE KALIAKRA
Cape Kaliakra is situated 12km east of Kavarna, and 60 km north-east of Varna. It has sheer cliffs that drop 70 meters to the sea below.
The settlement has changed its name several times – Tetrasiada, Akre and then Kaliakra. The name means “beautiful cape”, due to the abundant pink.
Legend has it that the colour is from the blood of the defenders of the fortress, built in the 4 th century before Christ and later used by the Romans and Byzantines. It was further fortified by Boyar Balik. During the medieval times it served as a dervish monastery.
Today there are quite enough remains of those ancient settlements.
Part of the material culture can be seen exhibited in a small archeological museum sheltered under a limestone cave.
LEGENDS
According to one well-known legend forty girls, the sole survivors of a Turkish attack, tied their plaits of hair and jumped to their deaths so that the Turks could not convert them to Islam.
Today, an obelisk stands near an opening in the rock, called “the gate of the 40 maidens”, which memorializes this event.
Another legend tells of St. Nikola, patron saint of sailors. As he ran towards the sea to escape his Turkish pursuers, the land kept stretching under his feet – but to no avail, as he was caught and killed. At the very tip of the cape is a small chapel, restored in 1993, to mark his symbolic grave.
Today the cape of Kaliakra is a peaceful nature reserve, where hooded cormorants nests, seals and dolphins cavort in the sea, and pink starlings and rock blackbirds frequent the cliffs and caves.
