Seven Rila Lakes

In the northwestern part of the Rila Mountains, seven glacial lakes are stacked one above the other up a single mountain cirque, linked by streams that tumble down in small cascades. Spread between 2,095 and 2,535 metres above sea level, the Seven Rila Lakes are the most visited lake group in Bulgaria.

Each lake is named for its character. The highest, Salzata ("The Tear"), is small and so clear that its bottom is visible. Below it lies Okoto ("The Eye"), almost perfectly oval and, at about 37.5 metres, the deepest cirque lake in Bulgaria. Babreka ("The Kidney") has the steepest shores; Bliznaka ("The Twin") is the largest, at about 9 hectares; Trilistnika ("The Trefoil") is irregular and low-banked; Ribnoto Ezero ("The Fish Lake") is the shallowest; and Dolnoto Ezero ("The Lower Lake") gathers the water of all the others and sends it out as the Dzherman River, a tributary of the Struma. In the recent past the group and its cirque were known as Edi Göl, and several of the lakes had other names. The lakes usually freeze in October and do not thaw until June, with ice that can reach two metres thick.

A Bulgarian legend tells of two giants, a man and a woman, who lived in the Rila Mountains in a home so lovely that evil forces grew jealous and attacked it. The man fell defending it, and his widow's endless tears ran down the slopes and filled the hollows as the seven lakes. Mountain guides point to a rock near Babreka said to show the two lovers, still guarding their home.

The lakes are on Bulgaria's list of the 100 National Tourist Sites. A mountain hut, Sedemte Ezera, stands on the northeastern shore of the Fish Lake, at about 2,196 metres.

Getting there

The usual approach starts at Sapareva Banya, from where a road climbs to Pionerska hut and a chairlift continues up to Rila Lakes hut; other routes come up from Govedartsi via Vada hut or Malyovitsa. The nearest larger town is Dupnitsa, about 18 km away. The nearest airport is Sofia Airport (SOF), about 56 km away.