Sredna Mountains

Sredna Mountains, range in central Bulgaria, a discontinuous range south of the Balkan Mountains and having a similar east-west orientation. Structurally, the Sredna range is a part of the Rhodope Mountains, from which it is separated by the Thracian Plain. Between the Sredna and Balkan mountains lie several basins: from west to east, the basins are marked by the towns of Sofia, Srednogorie, Karlovo, Kazanlŭk, and Sliven.

The Sredna range has three parts. Westernmost is the Ikhtimanska (Ikhtiman) Sredna, 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Sofia. It is an irregular, forested, hilly region with a sparse population. Its eastern limit is the Topolnitsa River. From the Topolnitsa to the Stryama River, a distance of 42 miles (68 km), lie the Sŭshtinska, or Syštinska (“True”), Sredna Mountains, which have a sharper spine of resistant, intrusive rocks. The maximum elevation in this section, 5,262 feet (1,604 m), is that of Bogdan, a peak 17 miles (27 km) west of the town of Karlovo. The Topolnitsa and Stryama rivers are important north-south transportation routes.

East of the Stryama River valley is the Sŭrnena (“Deer”) Range, which rises to its highest point of 4,054 feet (1,236 m) at the summit of Bratan (formerly Morozov), then dwindles eastward to the confluence of the Tundzha and Mochuritsa rivers. This section extends 85 miles (137 km) east-west.

To the north, the Sŭrnena Range faces the valley of the Tundzha River, which is impounded near Kazanlŭk by the Georgi Dimitrov Dam (completed in 1955); to the south, it slopes sharply to the Thracian Plain, which is drained by the Maritsa River. Small quantities of metal ores are obtained from the ranges; near Srednogorie, on the Topolnitsa River, is a large electrolytic copper works. The intermontane basins of Karlovo and Kazanlŭk are known collectively as the Valley of Roses owing to their production of attar of roses.