This Sunday, our cycling group had a proposal to ride bicycles to the village of Zidarovo, which is located about 30 m. from the city of Burgas. Few people agreed to go on the bike ride, but still three of us got together and decided to go.
We were going to ride the bicycles mainly on asphalt, but since it was still quite muddy on the dirt paths due to the recent rains and snow, we didn't have much choice where to ride.
The route passed along internal roads that are not in particularly good condition of the road surface, so the ride would not be accompanied by much traffic.
We started in the morning from the Meden Rudnik complex.
We quickly crossed the bike lanes to get out of city before it got too busy with people and cars.
We passed through the Mandra dam and pelicans flew above us. There were many fishermen fishing.
We started climbing towards Lale Bair and along the way we stopped to enjoy the beautiful views of the city of Burgas, surrounded by this part of the lakes.
The first village we passed through was Tvarditsa.
While my cycling friends bought coffee at the local shop, I went to the center of the village to have a look.
The center was deserted. Everything was as I remember it from my last visit more than 2 years ago.
In this village, I especially like the stops that are painted with the Bulgarian flag. On one of them is painted Vasil Levski - a Bulgarian revolutionary known as the Apostle of Freedom.
And on the other is painted Nikola Stanchev - a freestyle wrestler born in the village. He is the first Bulgarian to win an Olympic title.
A monument has been erected in his honor in the center of the village.
We left the village and headed towards the next villagе - Dimchevo, but before that we had to pass through many picturesque places that we could not pass without stopping.
Beautiful areas around Lake Mandren, with bridges, places for relaxation and observation. It was a real pleasure to pass through there.
We passed through beautiful forested areas and places still covered in snow.
It was interesting as we cycling through the village of Dimchevo.
The center of the village was especially interesting to me, which had a huge playground, a recreation area, a stone fountain with a monument, and an interesting installation with plastic.
The town hall was also decorated with an art garden, and I especially liked how they had decorated the stumps in front of the door.
Leaving the village, we also saw the Holy Trinity Church.
The surroundings of the village of Dimchevo turned out to be extremely charming. Not only on entering the village but also on leaving. The attractive views that the Fakiyska River revealed made us stop and enjoy.
We passed by the village of Prisad, but without entering it, we continued towards our final destination - Zidarovo.
Towards the village of Zidarovo, there were quite cold sections that were still covered in snow.
Soon the sign for Zidarovo appeared. But our cycling trip was aimed at the spring located on the outskirts of the village, so we did not continue on the main road but took the dirt road.
We climbed a small hill that was covered with gorgeous green moss and yellow flowers had bloomed on the grass.
In the distance we saw the chapel that stood out among the rocks. We had to descend and cross the river.
The dirt road took us to the Fakiyska River, the banks of which were very beautiful and full of river mussels.
We continued cycling in direction of the chapel, careful not to miss the spot where we could cross the river.
We soon reached a rope bridge, which we carefully crossed one after the other.
When we were already on the other side of the river, we quickly reached a stone staircase that led to the St. Petka Monastery.
We left our bicycles and climbed the stairs. On both sides of us were full of yellow crocuses.
We got to the top, but the St. Petka Monastery was locked.
The story of this sanctuary is interesting, which happened about 100 years ago.
A young family had a son who had an eye problem. His parents sought doctors, but attempts to cure him were unsuccessful. They did not stop praying, and on Easter the mother had a dream in which Saint Petka told her where to go with her child and how to find a spring with healing water that would help the child to see. After the woman discovered the spring and washed her child’s eyes with the water, he saw.
Later, the local people built a chapel on the site.
sourse: slojno.com
There was a large wooden table with benches, another building (room with beds, for overnight stay), and a fountain.
At the foot of the holy place, there is a large, massive shelter. We took a break there.
On the way back we took the dirt road on the other side to enter the village.
There in the center we met children from the village who were also riding bicycles.
We were about to return, but we chose to return by a different route - through the villages of Izvor and Marinka.
In the village of Izvor we saw many flocks of sheep.
Getting to Marinka was stressful because we had to cycle on a road busy with cars, but it was short.
We returned to the city in the dark - tired but happy from the adventurous and fun day.
We rode about 70 km that day. Relive video - here
