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Bulgaria's Belogradchik Rocks Top New 7 Wonders Provisional Ranking

Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009

The miraculous rock formations near the northwest Bulgarian town of Belogradchik have risen to the top position in the provisional ranking in Group D of the global campaign to select world's new Seven Wonders.

Thus, in the Group D category, "Caves, Rock Formations, and Valleys", Bulgaria's Belogradchik Rocks have overtaken the US Grand Canyon, which remains third, and Serbia's Davolja Varos ("Devil's Cave"), which remains second.

The initiative committee in support of the Belogradchik Rocks headed by the Mayor of the Belogradchik Municipality, Emil Tsankov, is urging all Bulgarians and Bulgaria lovers to vote for the Bulgarian bidder at the website of the campaign, new7wonders.com.

The Belogradchik Rocks are competing with 260 other landmarks from 220 nations all across the world. The global campaign is organized by a Switzerland-based NGO.

77 of the 261 bidders will be selected as finalists by the end of July 2009 through online voting at new7wonders.com. The winners, i.e. the world's new Seven Wonders will become known in 2011.

The Belogradchik Rocks are miraculous sandstone and limestone rock formations of up to 200 m in height with various shapes resulting from erosion. They form a strip which is 30 km in length and 3 km in width in the northwestern part of the Stara Planina (Balkan) Mountain.

Every single rock is named after a real object that it resembles. The rock range varies in its colors. The Belogradchik Rocks were declared a natural landmark in 1949. The ancient Belogradchik fortress is also located among the rocks.

Source: Sofia News Agency