Боровец

The oldest and most famous mountain resort in Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Musala.

Rila is the highest mountain on the Balkan Peninsula, and its highest peak, Musala (2925.4 m), rises only a few kilometers from today's Borovets resort. The area around the mountain was inhabited and traversed by Thracians and later by Slavs, and the old paths through the northern slopes of Rila served as a link between the Sofia Field and the Rhodope Mountains. Until the end of the 19th century, the area, known for its dense pine forests, was practically uninhabited - suitable only for hunting and logging. The history of the resort began in 1896, when Prince Ferdinand I chose the area by the Bistrica River for his summer residence and hunting lodges. The place received the name Chamkoria - from the Turkish word for pine forest. In the period 1898-1906, the palatial residence "Tsarska Bistrica" ​​was built next door, which served Ferdinand I, and later his son, Tsar Boris III, as a hunting lodge and summer retreat. The monarch's example was quickly followed by the aristocracy and wealthy Sofia families who built villas in the area. By the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, a road was built to Chamkoria, and the first municipal hotel was built. On February 16, 1930, the first documented ski competition in the area took place on the Sitniakovski Kamani rocks - the beginning of the sports history of the resort. In 1942, Chamkoria was officially renamed Borovets - the literal translation of the old name. After the Second World War, and especially in the 1960s and 1970s, the resort experienced massive development: Alpine-style hotels, lifts and slopes were built. Borovets established itself as the country's leading ski center and hosted international competitions - rounds of the Alpine Skiing World Cup in 1981 and 1984, as well as the World Biathlon Championship in 1993. After 1989, the resort went through a period of modernization - new hotels were built, and the outdated lift system was gradually renovated, including a gondola lift to Yastrebets peak (2363 m). In 2004, the ambitious "Super Borovets" project to expand the ski area was launched, but it was only partially realized due to financial difficulties and environmental objections. Today, Borovets has about 58 km of marked pistes, a gondola and several towpaths and is a favorite place for winter sports, and in summer it becomes a starting point for mountain hikes to Mount Musala, the Seven Rila Lakes and other parts of Rila. The resort is located on the territory of the Samokov municipality, in the Sofia region, about 70 km from the capital.