site.btaExhibition Marks 90 Years since Mt Vitosha Was Declared Nature Park

Mt Vitosha has very high value for the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Union of Architects President Petar Dikov told BTA at the opening of an exhibition called Metamorphoses, outside the Central House of Architects on Saturday. The exhibition marks 90 years since the mountain south of Sofia was declared a nature park.

Dikov said it is not a coincidence that Mt Vitosha is on the city's coat of arms.

He commented: "The present of Mt Vitosha is not very good, so we wanted to use the anniversary as a step towards putting the issue in a larger context. We plan a conference on December 2, at which we will try to look at the problems and possible solutions from all perspectives. There are quite a few problems, but they have been discussed piecemeal, and we do not see any solutions."

According to Dikov, the first step should be to analyze the current situation, the reasons for the mountain's plight, and what needs to be done to give Vitosha back to Sofianites.

Mt Vitosha is the oldest nature park in the Balkans. It was declared a protected area by the minister of national economy on October 27, 1934, a year after the London definition of "nature park." The park has an area of 270 square kilometres.