PROGRAMME OF THE TOUR

Day 1, 7 June
09:00 Departure from Sofia
10:00 Visit of Dyackovo dam
11:00 Visit of Rila Monastery and lunch
14:00 Departure for the town of Bansko
16:00 Short tour of the sights
20:00 Dinner in a folk-style restaurant
Overnight

Day 2, 8 June
08:30 Departure from Bansko
10:00 Visit of Belmeken dam
12:00 Visit of Batak dam and lunch
16:00 Arrival in Plovdiv
20:00 Dinner in the Old Town
Overnight

Day 3, 9 June
10:00 Tour of the city sights
12:00 Lunch
14:00 Visit of Chaira dam and PSHPP
15:00 Visit of Topolnitza dam
15:30 Departure for Sofia

Dyackovo dam is 57 m high earthfill dam, built in 1957 with upstream slope protection of concrete plates with artificial roughness.

Rila Monastery
Severe and magnificent, hidden deep inside the Rila Mountain, the operating male Rila Monastery is the largest and most respected in Bulgaria, part of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.
High stonewalls and embrasures like windows create a sense of a fortress. But millennium old silence of monastery’s patio and the warmth of ceilings’ fine woodcarving bring freedom and freshness to each soul.
From bird’s eye position the monastery looks like a spiral, the spiral of the infinite time, which have stopped here to bow in front of Bulgarian monk’s (Saint Yoan of Rila, the founder of the monastery in 10th century) faith and ascetics, and in front of surrounding mountains mightiness and beauty.

Bansko
The name of this small fairy-tail town comes from ancient Bulgarian word “ban”, which means “owner, host” and the local people are good hosts of this mysterious place full of legends, of wonderfully carved house ceilings, unique frescoes and very delicious cuisine. Besides, Bansko is one the best equipped skiing resorts in Europe.

Yundola is a famous Bulgarian mountain resort in a spectacular place between the Rila and the Rhodope mountains. Yundola is a starting point for numerous tours to both mountains.

Belmeken dam is 98 m high rockfill dam with clay core, crest length 740 m on 1923 m over see level, with reservoir capacity 144.106m³.
It is the upper reservoir for Belmeken hydropower plant, Belmeken pumped storage plant and Chaira pumped storage power plant. It is also the main reservoir of the Belmeken-Sestrimo-Chaira cascade with total capacity 1703 MW.

Batak dam is 35 m high uniform earth dam with reservoir capacity 315.106m³, year of completion 1961. It is the main reservoir of the Batak cascade with total capacity 240,8 MW.

Plovdiv. Is there an eternal city in Europe? Yes, Plovdiv. It is more ancient than the most ancient cities in the world. It was a city about 200 years before Rome was founded; it was standing on its six hills before Troy and Mycenae and after their destruction; it remembers the foundation of Athens and Constantinople. No one knows the initial name of the settlement, which is at least 8000-years-old; its first known name is the melodious Thracian word of Eumolpia. The city had many different names through the centuries given by different conquerors, like Philipopolis after Philip II Macedonian, the father of Alexander the Great, or Trimontium during the time of Roman Empire, or Paldin /The Luxuriant/ given by Bulgarians, etc. In Plovdiv one can touch, smell and even taste all European history.

Chaira dam is 85 m high concrete gravity dam, year of completion 1995. It is the lower reservoir of Chaira pumped storage power plant.

Pumped-storage underground power plant Chaira has 4 units and total capacity of 864 MW. With its head of 701 m and flow rate of 30 m³/sec per unit in the pumping mode and 690 m and a flow rate of 36 m³/sec per unit in the turbine mode, it is the second largest per unit in the world.

Topolnitsa dam is a concrete buttress dam, 78 m high, constructed in 1963.