Rozhen (Rhodope Mountains)

Rozhen is a mountain pass (saddle) in southern Bulgaria in the central part of the Perelik-Prespa division of the Western Rhodopes in the Smolyan Municipality, Smolyan District. The pass is 11.2 kilometres (7.0 mi) long, and the altitude of the saddle is 1,436 metres (4,711 ft). It connects the valley of the Chepelarska Reka (right tributary of the Maritsa) in the northwest with the valley of the Byala Reka (left tributary of the Luda Reka and part of the Arda basin) in the southeast. It starts at 1350 m above sea level. west of the village of Progled, at the junction for the Pamporovo resort, and heads southeast, up the slope of the Pereliksko-Prespa division of the Western Rhodopes. After 3.2 km, it climbs to the saddle at 1436 m above sea level, from where a dark and many-turning descent along the south-eastern slope of the ridge begins. After 8 km (5 mi), it descends to the village of Sokolovtsi, where it ends at 1,046 metres (3,432 ft) above sea level. The saddle is occupied by extensive meadows and pastures, surrounded by flat ridges overgrown with coniferous vegetation. From a geomorphological point of view, it is of karst origin; its base is made of marbleized limestone, and it is a drainless marble karst valley.