Description of the attraction
Cape Kaliakra is located in Bulgaria, in the southeast of the Dobrudzha plateau, 50 kilometers north-east of Varna and 12 kilometers east of Kavarna. Fortresses were built here from the 4th century BC, then they were rebuilt by the Romans and Byzantines many times. In the XIV century, the Bulgarian boyars built a powerful fortress Klaserka here, the ruins of which can be seen today.
Kaliakra, protruding two kilometers into the sea, has traditionally been a weather haven for ships. The coast of the cape is a cliff (sheer cliff) with a height of about seventy meters. The name itself - Kaliakra - has a Greek nature and can be translated as "beautiful cape" or "kind cape".
There are caves on Cape Kaliakra, one of them houses the Historical and Archaeological Museum, which displays various exhibits from the 3rd century BC. to the 17th century A. D.
In 1861, a lighthouse was built here, later, in 1901, another ten-meter cylindrical lighthouse was erected, which is still functioning. There are also several windmills on the cape.
In 2006, a monument to the great Russian admiral Fyodor Ushakov was unveiled at Cape Kaliakra. In 2011, the architectural and memorial complex "Naval Glory of Russia" was opened, dedicated to the 220th anniversary of the victory of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov over the fleet of the Ottoman Empire. Seven columns with 18 bells were installed next to the monument - according to the number of Russian warships killed in battles during that war with the Turks on the Black Sea. Each bell is engraved with the name of a combat ship.
Among Bulgarians, there are several legends in which Kaliakra appears. One of them tells the story of forty girls who, in order to escape Ottoman slavery and execution, tied their braids and threw themselves from here into the Black Sea (in one of the small bays there is even an obelisk called "The Gate of Forty Maidens", erected in honor of the dead girls). Another legend is connected with the name of Lysimachus - the successor of Alexander the Great, who, having taken possession of the treasury, tried to hide at the cape, but sank along with his fleet during a storm.
