The majestic peak of Vihren, the mountain known also as the peak of the storms, is located in the northern part of
Pirin. According to the Slavic mythology here lived Perun the god of thunder and lightning. Typical of Vihren is its alpine character, it has a sharp and inaccessible peak, rock ridges, moraines and beautiful lakes.
Pirin Mountains |
|
From Bansko a narrow and tortuous road leads to the Vihren Hut, on the slopes of the
mountain where we park the car. From the hut we follow the path E4 crossing the oriental slant of the Vihren till we reach some alpine lakes. Here we interrupt our excursion and we return back following the same path.
|
Pirin Mountains
|
On your way down from the Vihren hut, we can visit the Baikusheva (Bajkusevata Mura) one of the
century old trees, relics of majestic woods that once covered the Bulgarian lands, it is a 1200 years old white fir, with wide deeply wrinkled trunk and roots. It is known as one of the oldest tree in Bulgaria.
These patriarchs are strong mythological symbols that survived throughout the Slavic folklore for many centuries after Christianisation, some of these old tree have even been deified. The sacred tree, usually an oak and sometimes a pine tree, with its branches, trunk and roots represents the three levels of the universe, the world of heavens, mortals and the realm of dead. In Bulgaria there is a tradition called ‘Obrok’ or ‘Podkrust’, common in north western areas, where ritual crosses are raised in honour of the saint patron of that particular region in the fields or outside the village, but always under a big old tree, usually an oak, elm, lime or walnut tree, that becomes sacred.
Pirin Mountains |
|
|
|
|
