Kaliakra Street may not be one of the main roads of Sofia but its name carries the romanticism of times long gone.

According to an old legend, during the time of the Ottoman Rule in the Bulgarian territories, a young woman named Kaliakra lived in a small village to the north of Balchik at the Black Sea. After a Turkish attack on the village, Kaliakra, together with 40 other girls from the village, ran to a cape nearby, tied their long plaits of hair together and jumped into the sea preferring to die rather than be raped by the invaders.

The legend says that the cape they jumped from was named after the woman.

Situated 80km north of the town of Varna and 14km east of the town of Kavarna, today Cape Kaliakra is a peaceful nature reserve spreading over 687.5 ha. It is the only reserve in Bulgaria covering seawater territory - 8km in length and 500m in width.

Designated a protected area in 1941, the reserve was created with the sole aim of preserving the coastal sea and earth ecosystems.

Picturesque cliffs, ravishing steppe vegetation and sparkling sea can be seen today at Cape Kaliakra. Its prominent red cliffs rise 60m above the sea. The reserve hosts more than 270 plant species, 41 of them being rare, endangered or endemic. Hooded cormorants use the area for nesting. The coast is the home of pink starlings and rock blackbirds, while seals and dolphins inhabit the sea.

Cape Kaliakra is an important location for birds and is on the migratory flyway called Via Pontica. Many bird species breed in the reserve, others can be observed during migration or in winter. Kaliakra is one of the few places in Europe hosting the Rose-coloured Starling, the Pied Wheatear and five lark species, typical of the Balkan Peninsula. The Shag, the Alpine Swift and different songbirds animate the coastal cliffs.

In addition to its natural beauties, Cape Kaliakra has also preserved items from ancient civilizations. There are remnants of a medieval fortress turned into a museum and a restaurant on the very cape.

Two small wetlands - Bolata and Taukliman (The Birds' Bay) - are found to the north of Kaliakra. Interesting water birds and several species of ducks and warblers nest there. These sites are especially lively in migration season, when over 150 bird species stop to rest and feed there. The neighbouring rock massifs host the Eagle Owl, the Long-legged Buzzard and a number of reptiles listed in the Bulgarian Red Book of Protected Species.

In order to reach the cape, one has to follow the signs to the village of Bulgarevo, where they can visit the Nature Information Centre Kaliakra, and continue on the asphalt road out of the village to the cape itself. It's possible to bird watch and enjoy the stony steppe, flowering in spring, near the road east of Bulgarevo. The cape itself provides excellent opportunities for both bird and dolphin watching. There is also an asphalt road to the small wetland Bolata north of the cape.

Not overcrowded by tourists, the area is especially attractive in spring, when the steppe vegetation shows all of its glory.