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The pyramids of Katina village, Bulgaria, Bulgaria

Monica Kochman

Displayed: times.

Katina village is situated on the southwest slopes of Sofia Mountain, on the two sides of the River Katina. The village is mentioned for the first time back in history in a Turkish register book dating from 1420. Later on in the 20th century, during World War II, the people from this village took an active part in the antifascist armed struggle. In Katina village the church ?St. Spas? with valuable icons and frescoes can also be seen. To visit the site the departure point is Sofia.

The pyramids of Katina can be reached by different routes. From Sofia they can be reached by the municipal bus service or by car from Sofia to Novi Iskar and Katina village. For tourists who like to take sight seeing walks among nature they could take a train from Sofia to Kostinbrod. From there to the village of Jiten, which is situated in the west part of the Sofia plain, it is about 20 minutes' walk. From the village of Jiten to the village of Dobroslavtci the distance is about 40 minutes' walk. The village of Dobroslavtci is situated between the River Gabrovnitca and the River Urshak. From there to the village of Katina the distance is about one hour's walk. If you choose the route from Sofia to Novi Iskar, on the road to Katina, through which the River Katina runs, north from the village a deep glen and a small stream can be seen. The soil of the Big glen consists of clay with a typical greenish colour and rusty sands. From the mineral resources lignite coal can be found. Further north, the slopes of the big glen change into a coppery colour, where on the right side of the glen sandy pinnacles, deep niches and angular draperies appear. This is the first one from the several groups of the Katina earth pyramids. On the way up the glen one can see even more picturesque earth formations. Most impressive is the fourth group. There the glen becomes wider and deeper. Both sides there reach 30 meters height and become almost vertical. On these sides amazing figures can be seen ? Middle Ages towers, castles, minarets, humans and animals. The pyramids are incredibly beautiful at sunset and in the moonlight. The alluvium mountain surface is composed of deluvial materials resulting from the destructed purple-red buntsandstein mantle on the Southern slopes of the Small Mountain (Mala Planina). The Big glen and the numerous dykes closely bound to it gradually dug down into these materials. The rest have been done by nature ? the rains, the variable temperatures and the winds. They eroded and destroyed, taking away the weakly joined together fragments, but the more resistant ones remained and formed the strange Katina earth pyramids. Almost the whole village territory to the North and to the West is cut with deep dykes, the walls of which are engraved with most variable fantastic earth pyramids, reaching up to 4.5 meters. Parts of them are covered with rock hoods, which protect them from the direct effect of the rain. Here the effects of the impact of the external terrestrial forces are more evident. BS