Lakatnik rocks

The Lakatnik Rocks were declared a natural landmark in 1966, and after 1989 they were declared a protected area. Also since 1989, the rocks have been included in the then-created Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park. The rock formations that arecurrently popular under the name ‘Lakatnik Rocks’ are actually in the land of the village of Milanovo and are called Razhishkio Kamik (after the name of the nearest hamlet). The people living in Lakatnik called it Osikovskio Kamik, also known as the Osikovska Stena. (Osikovo is the old name of the village of Milanovo).

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  A massive monument lined with local stone rises at the top of the rocks. It is built in memory of the fallen participants in the September Uprising in 1923. In 1950, the village of Osikovo (now Milanovo) was renamed after one of them (Milan Petrov). In fact, Milan Petrov did not participate in the September Uprising, but since his brother Simeon was the leader of the local rebels, Milan was arrested and shot for edification.
  Here, in the summer of 1931, an alpine rope was used for rock climbing for the first time in Bulgaria. Alexander Belkovski, Georgi Stoimenov and Nikola Chipev climbed the rocks to the right of the monument - the so-called ‘Palaces’ and ‘Window’ on a free rope. Climbing and securing with pitons and carabiners began near Gara Lakatnik since 1934. By 1939, a great part of the most popular climbing routes on the rocks above Alpine Meadow were discovered and climbed. In the years after World War II, the rocks near Gara Lakatnik became a favorite training spot for climbers and cavers from Sofia and nearby settlements. One of the most memorable views from the railway line is of the red house hanging high on the sheer cliffs. This is a small alpine shelter called ‘Eagle's Nest’. The shelter was built in 1938 after a historic climb of the northeastern face of Malyovitsa by climbers from the Bulgarian Alpine Club Kotse Savadzhiev, Georgi Stoimenov, Georgi Tsenev and Todor Bozhkov-Tarzan. They brought the house from Sofia disassembled and mounted it on metal profiles attached to the rock. In 2000, the shelter was renovated and expanded by 20cm so that taller people could also lie inside (previously it was only 180cm wide).