The centuries-old plane trees from the Chiflika area in Belashtitsa, Rhodope Municipality and the thickest tree in Bulgaria
- Stefan Ivanov
- Apr 29, 2023
- 10 min read
Updated: Jan 20
Prologue
A great Byzantine general lived at the end of the first millennium AD. His name was Nikephoros Xiphius (Greek: Νικηφόρος Ξιφίας). In historical works, his name is also translated into Bulgarian as Xiphias or Xiphias, but the more popular form is Xiphius. He lived during the time of Emperor Basil II, later called the Bulgar-Slayer.
There is a legend according to which Nikephoros was of Bulgarian origin, named Nikolai, a native of the village of Borui (he bore this name around the 10th century, earlier the Thracian name Beroe, as well as the Roman one – Augusta Traiana, today Stara Zagora). When he was 11 years old, Nikolai was taken to Constantinople and trained as a Byzantine soldier.
Nikephoros Xiphius was a great confidant of the emperor and had one main task from him to conquer the northeastern Bulgarian lands, located between the Danube and the Balkan Mountains. Xiphius achieved great military successes, capturing the Bulgarian settlements of Pliska, Malak Preslav, as well as the old Bulgarian capital of Veliki Preslav.
The emperor, extremely pleased with Nikephoros, made him governor of Philippopolis (present-day Plovdiv). Xiphius, however, hated his Bulgarian past and tried his best to conceal it.
Years later, during the attacks on the demes* at Klyuch, known as the Battle of Belasica or the Battle of Clidion, the culmination of the duel between the Bulgarian Tsar Samuil and the Byzantine Emperor Basil II, which lasted for decades in the late 10th and early 11th centuries, Nikephoros was already an excellent strategist and made a significant contribution to the Byzantine victory.
*Samuil's Fortress – a medieval fortress located between the Belasitsa and Ograzhden mountains in the Klyuchka Gorge. It is located on the low Kufalnitsa hill, located on the right bank of the Strumeshnitsa River, 5 kilometers north of the village of Klyuch. It was probably built between 1009 and 1013 during the reign of Tsar Samuil and is part of a large-scale fortification system.
It was Xiphius who led the detachment that, on the emperor's orders, surrounded Belasitsa from the south and on July 29, 1014, dealt a decisive and significant blow to the back of Tsar Samuil's troops.
Whether because of the shame of his Bulgarian past or for some other reason, legend has it that it was Nikephoros who was among the military commanders who issued the callous and cruel order to blind the captured Bulgarian warriors, among whom was his own brother Dragomir.
What doesn't a man do out of fear and shame? He becomes shamelessly cowardly and even commits unthinkable merciless inhumanity.
It was the fear that his brother would recognize him and thus betray him that forced Nikephoros to issue the terrifying order. Legend even tells that Nikephoros' mother, upon learning of what had been done, cursed her son with the words:
Cursed be you, son, that you may not live long for what you have done!
How it happened that Nicephorus really understood his mother's spoken words, the legend does not reveal, but it tells us that the commander did not regret what he had done and his fate soon overtook him - he was killed on December 22, 1029, at the same Belasitsa mountain, where fifteen years earlier he had uttered his evil order.
Four years after the Battle of Belasitsa, all of Bulgaria had already been conquered by the Byzantines, which marked the end of the First Bulgarian Kingdom.
But why am I telling you all this?
***
One of the legends about the origin of today's village of Belashtitsa, to which I intend to take you, dear friends, now, is connected with the governor of Philippopolis (today's Plovdiv), located about ten kilometers north of the village, namely the great Byzantine commander and strategist Nicephorus Xiphius, whom I introduced in the prologue.
As today, so in the past, the vast fields surrounding today's Plovdiv to the north and south along the Maritsa River were extremely fertile and abundant in all kinds of gifts, as long as there was someone to cultivate them thoroughly, diligently and with a lot of work. But for this purpose, labor was needed.
Nicephorus wrote to the emperor, pleading. Basil II the Bulgar-slayer sent him 15,000 of Samuil's captured soldiers during the great battle of Klyuch.
But where should this labor be housed? Where would he live from now on, so that he would be close enough to work tirelessly in the vast fertile fields of the vast Thracian plain?
To this end, Nikephoros laid the foundations of today's Belashtitsa. He named it after the Belashtitsa mountain, the place that brought him great military glory.
For himself, the governor of Philippopolis erected a huge and impressive palace-fortress, which existed until around 1650. Remains of it can even be seen today in the middle of the southern edge of the village.
In 1020, about a kilometer south of his palace, Nicephorus founded a monastery in honor of Saint George the Victorious, whose successor today is the famous Belashtitsa Monastery.
Today, I am also a kind and gracious guest of the village of Belashtitsa, and my goal is to examine and photograph a group of centuries-old trees, one of which is even over 1100 years old, which makes it a living witness to all of these events described above. Incredible!
The area of Chiflika, to which I am headed, is located in the southern part of Belashtitsa.
I leave my car in front of the ruins of the tall watchtower, an orphaned and miserable remnant of the former palace-fortress of Nikifor.
Behind the old and crumbling walls lies a grove of centuries-old plane trees.
I enter among them and it seems as if at that moment these living beings, as if sensing my indomitable spirit, telling various stories, begin to tell me their tales.
I sit on the bench between them, listening to the whisper of their green leaves.
A melody of some kind, a story from ancient times, when people roamed here, but from another era – from a thousand summers ago, I heard, listening to the rustling of branches and twigs.
It is indescribable!
In front of the trees are faded signs with inscriptions unscathed by time – 500, 700 and 1100 years of history.
It's incredible!
The oldest of them is also officially the thickest tree known to us on the territory of Bulgaria – with a trunk circumference of almost fourteen meters (according to the information sign).
Locals say that even Tsar Kaloyan once tied his horse to this huge trunk.
Just as I sat that day under the old man's shade and listened to his songs, so too did Pencho Slaveykov, the great Bulgarian poet, sit here, just like me, and he listened to the same songs of the trees.
Inspired just like me, he wrote his unforgettable poem "Inseparable". It is a beautiful but sad song - a ballad about the impossible love of two young people who act too foolishly and take their own lives early. A bust-monument has been erected in his honor in the center of the village.
They say that Slaveykov began his work "Inseparable" precisely under the shadows of this century-old plane tree, under which I am sitting today. Later, he finished his poem in Leipzig, Germany. Slaveykov first published his ballad in 1895 under the title "Kalina", but when a year later he included the work in the collection "Epic Songs", he changed the title to "Inseparable", probably to emphasize the relationship between the two young people - the main characters of the work.
I definitely do not approve of their choice, although naively young and unreasonable, mainly because taking one's own life is a sin, and also because as long as a person is alive, there is always hope.
Later, in addition to Slaveykov, these shadows also sheltered one of the most original Bulgarian artists of the 20th century - the painter Zlatyu Boyadzhiev. It is no coincidence that on one of his canvases - "Landscape from Belashtitsa", the artist depicted him.
Even Tsar Boris III and Tsarina Joanna visited Belashtitsa to admire the centuries-old tree.
On St. Nicholas Day in 2011, the Chiflika area in the village of Belashtitsa was declared protected by order of the Minister of Environment and Waters Nona Karadjova.
The entire area is fabulous!
Silence hovers around the crowns of the plane trees and the place is lovely for walks and relaxation. Nearby, along the river, there is a beautiful and perfectly shaped park of hundreds of plane trees, called the "Chinarite" park, which I recommend you take a walk in, and a well-trodden and gentle path will lead you to the gates of the Belashtitsa Monastery, famous throughout Bulgaria. Its garden and courtyard are also perfectly maintained and suitable for relaxation, especially in autumn, when everything shines in a variety of colors.
How to get to the village of Belashtitsa?
Belashtitsa is a village in Southern Bulgaria. It is located in the Rodopi Municipality, Plovdiv District.
The village is located in the geographical area of Rhodopes, at the northern foot of the Chernatitsa ridge of the Western Rhodopes, at an altitude of 286 meters above sea level. It is located on the very border between the plain and the mountain, where the Upper Thracian Lowland ends and the first foothills begin.
From Belashtitsa, a spacious view opens up to the Thracian Plain - the city of Plovdiv with its hills can be seen, the Maritsa River valley can be traced from Pazardzhik to Parvomay, and in the distance the gaze glides along the slopes of Sredna Gora and stops at the snow-capped peaks of the Stara Planina above Karlovo and Kalofer.
The climate is transitional continental with a slight mountain influence, and the prevailing soils are humus-carbonate. Today, the nearby foothills around the village are bare and with low vegetation, but in the past they were overgrown with centuries-old oak and beech forests, in which the climate was significantly different from today. After the forests were cut down, the climatic conditions have almost equaled those in the field. Now only in the evenings is a mountain breeze felt more noticeably, which reduces the heat during the summer heat.
The local natural conditions are extremely favorable for the development of agriculture - mainly fruit growing and viticulture. Wine and dessert varieties are cultivated, and in fruit growing, the cultivation of cherries, plums, apples and peaches is most common.
Today, Belashtitsa falls into the first villa belt of the Rhodope Park. The village has a regular bus connection with Plovdiv.
Its convenient location on Belashtitsa and the mountain air make it among the most attractive and preferred by Plovdiv residents villages in the region.
Belashtitsa is located:
155 kilometers (about 1 hour and 50 minutes by car) from the capital
10 kilometers (about 19 minutes by car) from the city of Plovdiv
375 kilometers (about 4 hours and 20 minutes by car) from the city of Varna
260 kilometers (about 2 hours and 30 minutes by car) from the city of Burgas
The village is located only three kilometers from the ring road of the regional city, and two roads lead to it - the old one, which passes through the village of Branipole and leads to the center, and the new one, built and opened in 2006, leads to the villa area of Belashtitsa. The road from Plovdiv to the "Zdravets" chalet, the "Studenets" resort and the "Byala Cherkva" resort passes through the village. In fact, this is one of the most direct roads between Plovdiv and the Aegean Sea. The village borders the villages of Branipole (to the north), Brestnik (to the east), Galabovo (to the south) and Markovo (to the east).
How do you get to Chiflika area?
The Chiflika area is located south of the village. The easiest way to get there is to set the following point on your navigation.
You can leave your car right in front of the ruins of the old Byzantine tower.
Ancient trees in Bulgaria
The Granite Oak – the oldest known living creature on the territory of Bulgaria and a centuries-old tree, 17 centuries old.
Before the Granite Oak was accepted as the oldest tree in Bulgaria, it was believed that the Baykusheva Fir in Pirin, thirteen centuries old, was the oldest tree.
The plane tree in the village of Zlatolist near Sandanski is a few decades younger.
An oak of the Blagun type, about a thousand years old, is the doyen of Strandzha.
Another oak from the village of Berende, Sofia region, is more than 850 years old.
Dozens of oaks between 350 and 850 years old have been preserved in separate points of the Ludogorie near the present-day towns of Isperih, Kubrat, Samuil and Loznitsa.
The plane tree from the village of Dolnoslav near Asenovgrad is over 800 years old.
Among the veterans are also the Kichestiya hornbeam near the village of Turia, Kazanlak, which is about 700 years old, the Dedo-Tonevyya oak near the village of Dolna Vrabcha, Breznik, which is more than 650 years old, its peer from the village of Bosnek, Pernik, and the two plane trees over 600 years old near Garmen.
Several dozen trees, about 550 years old, are the surviving representatives of the Strandzha oak, called the liar. Strandzha is the only habitat in Europe of this representative of the ancient flora, the ancestor of all oak species on the continent.
The Big Beech near Krastets in the Tryavna Balkan is over 500 years old.
The centuries-old plane tree in the center of the village of Cherven near Asenovgrad is over 500 years old.
Approximately the same age is the Slaveykov oak in the "Lozenets" neighborhood in Sofia - the oldest tree in the capital.
One of the young (only 250 years old) future contenders is the centuries-old tser on the road to the village of Kosti in Strandzha.
Unfortunately, some of the iconic veterans have already dried up as a result of the inexorable actions of nature – such are the summer oak nicknamed the Elephant in the Elena Balkan and the Old Elm in Sliven.
Dear friends, before I show you what interesting sights you can see nearby, I would like to remind you of the special photo album, which has collected incredible beauty and impressive photo moments just for you, a link to which you will find at the end of the post!
Enjoy it!
And finally, my dear friends,
you shouldn't miss checking out
the special photo album with moments –
discovered, experienced, filmed and shared with you!
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