Pernik Province: Mining, Masks, and the Source of the Struma
Travel guide · editorialAt the end of January, the streets of Pernik fill with thousands of figures in fur, feathers, and bells: at the Surva mask festival, the Kukeri drive away the evil spirits of winter. A trip to Pernik takes you to a mining town west of Sofia and into a hilly countryside along the upper Struma.
Pernik Between Coal and the Middle Ages
In the 20th century, Pernik was Bulgaria's most important coal-mining region. The Mining Museum, partly housed in an old mine tunnel, tells that story. On Krakra Hill above the town lie the remains of a medieval fortress that withstood attacks by the Byzantine emperor Basil II around the year 1000 and is named after the boyar Krakra. The town is dominated by prefab apartment blocks, but it has parks and a reservoir on its edge.
Masks and Landscape
The International Masquerade Festival Surva is the largest of its kind in the Balkans and takes place every year on the last weekend in January. Groups from the surrounding villages, from all over Bulgaria, and from abroad parade through the center in their costumes and heavy bells; the tradition is on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. Outside the town, a quiet landscape begins: the Struma rises on the southern slope of Vitosha, and the villages around Breznik and Radomir lie in a wide high basin. Excursions lead to Studena Reservoir and to small monasteries in the hills. If you want a peaceful weekend, you'll find small guesthouses, 19th-century churches, and hiking trails in the villages around Breznik, as well as in the Rui Mountains on the Serbian border, where blueberries and mushrooms grow on the slopes.
Food, Getting There, and Best Time to Visit
The cuisine is simple and hearty: beans, potatoes, grilled meat, banitsa, and rakia. Pernik lies only about 19 miles (30 km) southwest of Sofia, trains and buses run frequently, and the Struma Motorway passes nearby. The best time to visit is the Surva weekend in January; for hiking, May through October. If you're coming for Surva, book early, because the town's few hotels fill up quickly that weekend.