Vitosha national park legend prepared by Bulgaria for Erasmus+ KA229 project "Green Education in green environment"

1. Erasmus+ programme
Project No.2020-1-ES01-KA229-082342_4
Green education in green environment
(December2021 – February2022)
PES Bankerche
Sofia, Bulgaria
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be
made of the information contained therein.

2. VITOSHA AND LYULIN HAD NO NAMES
THE LEGEND ABOUT VITOSHA MOUNTAIN
Many years ago Vitosha and Lulin mountains had no
names. That is why the people from the villages located in
the foot of the two mountains used to call Vitosha “The big
ridge” and Lulin “The long ridge”. In one of the villages lived
a beautiful girl named Vita. She was the eldest daughter in
the family and always helped with the breeding of the
sheep.
When leading out the flock to pasture she often climbed
“The big ridge” for she loved contemplating the view from
there. She could spot the river Iskar slowly sinking in the
folds of the Balkan. When standing there she liked to sing.

4. Vitosha had a powerful but tender voice which could be heard
across nine villages. And there on “The long ridge” a shepherd
used to take out the sheep to graze. He loved Vita’s voice and
liked to quietly play his rebec on the background of her singing.
And when he could no longer hear her voice, Lulin exclaimed
just to hear her voice “Vitooo!”. When responding to him their
echoes bound together and what the villagers could hear was
“Vitoshoo”.
And that is how they fell in love without ever taking a glimpse
into each other’s eyes. They longed for each other and wanted
to meet so eagerly, but there was no one they could leave the
flocks to.
Years were passing and so was the time for getting married. Vita
had always wanted to marry Lulin but he never had the courage
to tell her parents. And the same was for him. He loved her just
as much, but he couldn’t tell his parents what he truly wished
for. He was afraid his mother would never approve of such a
strong girl like Vita who only knew how to take care of sheep. At
the same time there were lots of men from near and far who
wanted to marry Vita, but she sent all of them away.

7. One day a mason asked her parents for her hand. They gladly
agreed, since he was from a nice family and they arranged
everything without asking Vita for her opinion. In the evening
when Vita came back with the flock he mother said
“Tomorrow the son of a good family will come and you two
are going to get married. You will no longer make a laughing-
stock of our family”.
Without saying a word Vita humbly went to her room. The
next morning she was nowhere to be found. Everybody was
searching and searching, but it was completely useless.
Around noon they heard her song coming from “the big
ridge” and the echo of the two lovers “Vitoshoo”. Upon
hearing this Vita’s mother became wild with rage and cursed
them both “May you get struck by a lighting and petrified
right there where you are standing now! May you turn into
black stones, black as the earth, black as my soul had turned
for all the shame you have inflicted on me. And that Lulin,
deceiver and liar, let him too turn into stone!”

8. The clear sky suddenly turned grey. A thunder struck right
where Lulin was standing and there at the top of “the big
ridge” Vita fell turning into black stone. Ever since then people
began calling “The long ridge” Lulin and “the big ridge”
Vitosha and the peak, where Vita was petrified, Black peak.

10. 2020-1-ES01-KA229-082342_4
SOFIA, BULGARIA
FEBRUARY 2022