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The Bulgarian 'Loch Ness Monster'

Nessie vs. the Bulgarian Water Bull

The world famous monster Nessie from the Loch Ness in Scotland is about to get a rather tough competitor – the Water Bull from the Rabisha Lake in Northwestern Bulgaria.

Even though the Water Bull and Nessie seem to be of very different species, the Water Bull of the Rabisha Lake is set to conquer the world going in the footsteps of the Loch Ness Monster, Emil Tsankov, Mayor of the town of Belogradchik has told Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency).

Belogradchik is a small, though, rather famous and picturesque town in the Bulgarian Northwest. First and foremost, it is known for the Belogradchik Rocks – absolutely miraculous rock formations stretching for some 30 km in the western part of the Balkan Moutain (Stara Planina).

Over the past year, the Belogradchik Rocks did pretty well in the competition for the New Seven Wonders of the World, and even though they failed to make it to the finalists, they have found a spot on the prestigious reserve list. The other amazing thing near Belogradchik is the Magurata Cave with its enchanting paintings by prehistoric people.

And the third world-class tourist attraction the Belogradchik Municipality wants to add to its portfolio has to do with the Monster of the Rabisha Lake.

Mayor Emil Tsankov has submitted an application to the EDEN (European Destinations of Excellence) contest, a EU-wide project focusing on sustainable development. The topic of the 2010 edition of the contest is “Water as a Force of Life and Prosperity” which made the Rabisha Water Bull a rather logical participant.

With the funding that the Belogradchik Municipality hopes to get, it plans to promote the legend about the Rabisha Lake Monster and to resurrect the local traditions related to the mysterious creature.

The Rabisha Lake – Bulgaria’s Loch Ness

The Rabisha Lake (“Rabishkoto Ezero” in Bulgarian) is located between the villages of Tolovitsa and Rabisha, in the Belogradchik Municipality, to the northwest of Sofia.

It is the largest lake in Bulgaria’s interior even though with its area of about 1 square km it is much more modest in size than the Loch Ness.

The Rabisha Lake has a tectonic origin. It was formed in the Quaternary Period, some 2,5-3 million years ago, and its depth reaches 30-40 meters.

“The lake has never been explored in detail so it is not unknown exactly what sorts of species from previous periods it is the home of,” Mayor Tsankov told Novinite.com.

One thing that stands out about the Rabisha Lake is the fact that it is an endorheic lake – no rivers flow out of it. This has turned it into the object of many folk tales and legends of medieval Bulgarians who believed that water had to be in circulation all the time.

Thus, the people in the region thought the lake was bottomless, and was therefore the home of many scary creatures common to the Slavic mythology.

The Legend about the Water Bull, the Rabisha Lake Monster

There are various legends about the Rabiska Lake Monster but Mayor Tsankov has picked the most “credible” one – which dates back to the 18th century – in order to focus their project on it.

The legend has it that a fearful monster inhabits the lake. Unlike Nessie and many other lake monsters, however, this one is no dinosaur;
it is a lot more human-like, and is actually more like a minotaur.

The Rabisha Lake Monster, the so called Water Bull, has the head of a bull, the body of giant, strong man, and the tale of fish.

In order to keep this terrifying beast at ease, the local people would offer as a sacrifice to it the most beautiful young girl in the entire region in order to buy their safety. They would hold a procession taking the girl to the Rabisha Lake where it would get on a boat together with many wonderful gifts, and would fall pray to the monster.

It is exactly this procession with a gorgeous young girl, lavish gifts, and songs and dances that a major focus of the project to revive the Rabisha Lake legend, together with some other traditional folklore customs of the region. These customs and ceremonies will be shown to tourists and guests, and they will actually be invited to participate in them.

“The terrible story of the annual sacrifices to the Water Bull actually has a happy ending,” Tsankov explains with a smile. “The most gorgeous girl in the world was born one day in the village of Rabisha. When she grew up and the time came to offer her as sacrifice, she was placed in a boat and taken to the middle of the lake.

“However, when the Water Bull saw her, he was so enchanted by her that instead of killing her, he fell in love. He asked his sister, who was a sorceress, for help, and with her powers she made the beautiful girl immortal. The Water Bull took his young wife to the bottom of the Lake, and never came back for more prey. The two of them are still believed to live happily down there.”

Water Bull or Wels Catfish?

What might have given rise to such a legend (there are actually a number of local legends about the Water Bull Monster in the Rabisha Lake which have slight variations)? Assuming of course the actual Bull doesn’t hang around down there.

The Rabisha Lake is actually proven to be the home of real water monsters – gigantic wels catfish have been caught there. The largest ones reach 5 meters in length, and a weight of 350 kg!

The Belogradchik Mayor says there are also various reports of spotting these fish monsters near the surface of the Rabisha Lake – mostly in the months of April and May – even though the wels catfish usually spend most of their time on the bottom of the lake.

“This huge fish – a real monster – might have been the cause of the Water Bull legend in the first place,” Tsankov thinks.

Legend or no legend, the development of a brand new tourist product has been initiated, and the 24 Chasa Daily and the Belogradchik Municipality have already announced a competition for taking a photo of the Rabisha Lake Monster, and everyone is welcome to participate.

Hopefully, the photos of the enthusiasts rushing there will not capture any dinosaur, Nessie-like monster in the lake as this is going to throw into disarray the tidy plans of the municipality about its Water Bull.

Of course, Mayor Tsankov actually is much in favor of advertising the Water Bull as “the Bulgarian Nessie” in order to benefit from the world renown of the Loch Ness Monster.

Belogradchik Has Seen the Future and It Works

It seems that thanks primarily to the enterprising character of Mayor Emil Tsankov and his team, the small town of Belogradchik is going to find its way of sustainable local tourism rather then descending into poverty like so many other towns and villages across Bulgaria with big but neglected potential.

A record number of tourists – 350 000 – visited Belogradchik, a town ot 6 000 people, in 2009. This is a staggering increase compared to the 90 000 visitors in 2008, and even to the record number of visitors in the mid 1980s – 140 000.

The Bulgarian Nessie is supposed to boost these figures even further. It will most certainly do so because it seems to be even cooler than the Loch Ness Monster – after all, the Water Bull turned out to be the hero of a great love story.

I think someone has been over indulging in rakia

I think your right Daisy but it may well be true who knows, lets face it we are talking of Bulgaria and I've been told so many tales :Roll laugh:

Sounds to me that the Mayor has had a little too much raikia if he's seen fish as big as his boat a typical big fish story.
I do admire the Mayor though, anything that brings tourists and their money to a small town in Bulgaria can only be good and he should start advertising the huge fish in angling magazines, in places like th uk where fishing is the biggest participation sport for men
I once went fishing, it was many years ago I admit, but still remember it as the most boring waste of time I have ever spent

What better way to promote tourist then to bring in a monster from the depth below.Look at Nessie's place, that has been going on for many decades.The tourist trade rocketed with tourist from all over to get a glimpse of the monster.And the locals cashed in on this quickly.
Cornwall said they had a monster that comes ashore.l forgot the name of it.
Turkey in the SE has also got this imaginary monster as well.
Where ever you go in the world.The countries that want to promote tourism will just make up a story for the gullible to fall for it and visit the place.
l have a mutated gecko in my under storage that only comes out if you believe in him.The admission fee is 10 pounds,plus many memorabilia on show to buy.How would you like to own a inflated mutated gecko at a bargain price of 20 pounds.All proceeds will go into my bank account so l can live the life of riley

And now it is Bulgaria's turn to make up a monster that doesn't exists.They don't want to lose out on the growing believers out there that want to waste their money on something that isn't there.But if you seen one then you have seen them all

Genius idea lets be honest this kind of thing is going on all over the uk and it make money so 10 brownie points to the Mayer

:Good post:entertaining post thanks. Guess we will have to get a bigger fishing rod for next year eh!

Oddy

I think Scott hit the nail on the head

This is a Bulgarian Murrah Water Buffalo frolicing in the Lake! this region is known for water buffalo.

Here is a bit of history about it or myth depends on your point of view. (Thanks for the help Ashley )

Even though the Bulgarian Water Bull would seem to be a very different species from Nessie — as it is likely more akin to the British Isle’s KELPIE and more specifically the nefarious Scottish creature known as the TARBH-UISGE, which literally translates as “water bull” — Emil Tsankov, Mayor of the town of Belogradchik, believes that the Water Bull of their very own Rabisha Lake is set to conquer the world.

Lake Rabisha is an endorheic lake, which means no rivers flow out of it, located between the villages of Tolovitsa and Rabisha, in the northwest of Sofia. It is the largest lake in Bulgaria’s interior even though it is not nearly as large as Loch Ness.

The locals surrounding the lake used to believe that it was bottomless and that its murky depths provided a home for and untold amount of monstrosities. Although the lake is almost 3 million years old, Mayor Tsankov confirmed that it has never been fully explored.

“The lake has never been explored in detail so it is not unknown exactly what sorts of species from previous periods it is the home of.”

While most might assume that this creature is of prehistoric or (more likely) folkloric origins, Tsankov insists that the creature is more like something from BEYOND MYTHOLOGY, in that it is actually a masculine, humanoid figure with a MERMAID-like tail and a MINOTAUR-like head.

According to Tsankov, the most “credible” accounts of the creature dates all the way back to the 18th century, when, legend states, natives of the region would appease the Water Bull’s rapacious hunger by offering the beast a sacrifice of the most beautiful young girl in the entire region.

The superstitious locals would hold a sacrificial procession escorting the (ostensibly unenthusiastic) girl to the Rabisha Lake, at which point they would place her on a boat, along with other gifts and tributes, and send her off into the mist shrouded darkness where she would would presumably fall pray to the monster’s appetite.

Tsankov has proposed to revive this old world tradition — including all the accoutrement of a gorgeous young girl, lavish gifts, songs, dances pageantry (excluding the untimely demise of the girl one would hope) — in an effort to revive the Rabisha Lake legend and increase tourism to the region. Tourists will, of course, be invited to participate in the sacrificial process.

Wary of the proceeding becoming to grim, Tsankov explained the the legends of the Water Bull and the virgins does end on an optimistic tone:

[align=center:29ogjr3j][size=150:29ogjr3j]“The terrible story of the annual sacrifices to the Water Bull actually has a happy ending. The most gorgeous girl in the world was born one day in the village of Rabisha. When she grew up and the time came to offer her as sacrifice, she was placed in a boat and taken to the middle of the lake. However, when the Water Bull saw her, he was so enchanted by her that instead of killing her, he fell in love. He asked his sister, who was a sorceress, for help, and with her powers she made the beautiful girl immortal. The Water Bull took his young wife to the bottom of the Lake, and never came back for more prey. The two of them are still believed to live happily down there.”[/align:29ogjr3j]



While the mayor (and local inn keepers) are happy to thrive on the classic tales of the water Bull, there are some who have proposed that the long-horned, fish-tailed AQUATIC ENIGMA that gave rise to such a legend might actually be a very real water monster – the gigantic, and notoriously predatory, wels catfish.

The catfish — which have been known to attack humans and even eat small children– have been caught in Rabisha.The largest wels have reached almost 17-feet in length and weigh in at an astounding 772 lbs!

The Belogradchik Mayor says there are also various reports of spotting these fish monsters near the surface of the Rabisha Lake –- mostly in the months of April and May –- even though the wels catfish usually spend most of their time on the bottom of the lake. Tsankov has even conceded that this colossal catfish may well be the origin of the legends:

“This huge fish — a real monster — might have been the cause of the Water Bull legend in the first place.”

Whether or not the legend is cryptozoological, folkloric or a known animal, the Belogradchik Municipality has already announced a competition open to the public for the best photo of the Rabisha Lake Monster — or the “the Bulgarian Nessie” as some have dubbed it.

[align=center:29ogjr3j][/align:29ogjr3j]
While the revival of these legends is clearly the result of an effort to boost tourism, one cannot discount the possibility of something anomalous lurking in the lake. Perhaps a new species of wels or other creature that evolved in a unique fashion due to the isolation of its endorheic environment.

Interesting read but I'll go with the myth idea

The 'Bulgarian Loch Ness Monster' here we go again...when will they ever stop this Bulgarian nonsense?

Hands off our Nessie!! Isn't this story of the Water Bull a bit of bull****?

Sorry, couldn't resist!