Malyovitsa

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Malyovitsa (Bulgarian: Мальовица) is a peak in the northwestern part of the Rila Mountains in southwestern Bulgaria. It is 2,729 m high and is one of the most popular tourist regions in the mountain. The Rila Monastery is situated at it's southern foot, and Malyovitsa Ski Centre — with two downhill tracks and two ski drags — is to the north. The main starting point for treks in the region is Malyovitsa Hut (at about 2 hours walk from the top of the summit).

The Malyovitsa region is the cradle of Bulgarian rock climbing and mountaineering. The first organized expeditions were made in 1921-22 by tourists from the town of Samokov. The imposant north wall of the summit was first climbed in 1938 by Konstantin Savadzhiev and Georgi Stoimenov (about 200 m, grade UIAA V+). That was the greatest success of Bulgarian climbers for its time and is deemed as the date of birth of Bulgarian mountaineering. Later other walls in the region were climbed too with the most difficult routes being made in 1970s. After 1990 Bulgarian alpine climbing fell in a rapid decline and nowadays Malyovitsa region is not too popular although there are many difficult steep granite walls with routes that are flagstones in Bulgarian mountaineering.

Other interesting walls and summits are: Zliya Zab (200 m wall with one of the most famous climbing routes in the country — Vezhdite), Dvuglav (a 300 m high wall), Iglata, Dyavolski Igli (several aretes with the hardest climbs in the region), Ushite and others.