Roussenski Lom

The Natural Park of Roussenski Lom is situated in the north-east of Bulgaria, at about 20 km south of the city of Rousse. In the transition from the Pliocene to the Pleistocene (Glacial Period) the 2500 m thick limestone layers were slowly horizontally uplifted. That forced the river to cut its bed up to 100 m into the rock. The outcome is a remarkably beautiful carving gully. The area was pronounced a Natural Park in 1970. It covers 3200 hectares of land along the canyon-like valley of the Roussenski Lom, a tributary of the Danube river.

The uniqueness of Roussenski Lom Nature Park is a result of many and various factors, including: terrain, rocks, soil and specific climatic conditions. 120 million years ago this area was on the bottom of a warm sea which deposited thick layers of limestone; eventually, the sea receded and left the rock layers exposed. A multitude of caves, caverns and karst-formations were gradually carved along the entire river system due to the different state of density of the limestone. It is known that biodiversity is two to three times richer in areas with limestone rock than in areas with different geology, and this fact helps to explain the natural riches of the Roussenski Lom Nature Park.
There are many mid-European and southern plants to be seen here in the Roussenski Lom National Park. Among its wide variety of shrubs and trees, species can be found, which originated from the steppes. But here the flora is not as rich as the wildlife. Fish, turtles, lizards and snakes breed here, many rare birds make their nests in the park, and the Egyptian vulture, the golden eagle and the short-toed eagle are just a few of the rare birds to be observed. Besides the more harmless bats and otters, one might catch a glimpse of the nature's predators such as wolves, jackals and sometimes even wild cats.