What is Chamkoria

The Bulgarian ski resort of Borovets is not as popular with Russian skiers as Bansko, but it is very atmospheric and has an interesting history. I will show a few photos that I took in Borovets in late November. At that time, in theory, snow should already be lying in the mountains. And Borovets is located at an altitude of 1350 m above sea level. But, apparently, that autumn turned out to be warm and there was still no snow, but there was a Gothic fog. It was very mysterious 😊

Until the mid-20th century, Borovets bore another name - Chamkoria. The meaning of both these words is the same - coniferous forest. And so it is. The resort stands in a coniferous forest, but at the same time on a mountainside.

This place is located very close to Sofia (70 km), which is why it was chosen as a suburban area. In 1896, the first hotel with 14 rooms was built here, and then they began to distribute land plots to respected Sofians. They did not sell land, but leased it for almost a hundred years.

The owners built houses in the Alpine style here, because then in Austria Austrian tastes in architecture ruled and Viennese architects worked. In this sense, Bansko and Pamporovo are very different from Borovets - they are not so elitist. Neither then nor today. Even now, the small ski resort of Borovets with its modern, not very beautiful hotels and old q rickety alpine cottages looks much more noble than the new resorts 😊

They say there were 150 villas in Chamcroia, only 15 have survived to this day. Most of these villas were rented out by vacationers, mostly Sofia residents. There is also the hunting residence of Tsarska Bistrita.

Of course, with the advent of Soviet power (1944), the villas were nationalized, and at the very end of the 20th century they were returned to the owners as a result of restitution. However, not all the owners were found and therefore once beautiful Alpine cottages, now they are so lonely among ship pines and new mansions. Some of them are recognized as architectural monuments.

This church was built in 1933.

Modern bungalows.

Alpine cottage, renovated beyond recognition.

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