Rastnik is a village in Southern Bulgaria. It is located in the municipality of Kirkovo, Kardzhali Region.

The village is located 15 km north-west of Kirkovo, 53 km south-west of Kardzhali, 21 km east of Zlatograd and about 293 km south-east of the capital Sofia city. The village of  Benkovski is located only 4 km in the south-west.

It is situated in an area with hilly and foothill relief at an altitude of 429 meters. The climate is transitional-Mediterranean, winters are relatively mild and summers are long and hot.

Here live about 100 people.

Rastnik has electricity and water supply systems. The border between Kirkovo municipality and the municipality of Dzhebel passes through the village.

Kindergarten, elementary school. community center as well as specialised medical assistance you will find in the village of Benkovski. The nearest polyclinic is in the village of Kirkovo and the nearest general hospitsl - in Zlatograd.

LANDMARKS AND TOURISM

In the area Manchan kaya near the village of Rastnik you can visit a few ancient Thracian rock niches.

Near the village of Maglene /8 km in the west/ you can visit a Thracian tomb dating from VI century B.C. The tomb is located on one of the hills near a Thracian rock sanctuary called the Devil's rock by the local people. Near the sanctuary is located anecropolis from the Early iron age which has never been researched so far.

On the left bank on Varbitsa River, near the village of Fotinovo /10 km in the south-east/, you can see six Thracian niches, ancient cuts, grooves and a rock tomb.There are also amazing rock formations resembling turtles that are carved in the rocks. According to the researchers thay were made by an ancient civilization that used to inhabit the Eastern Rhodopes.

Only 17 km in the east, in the village of Stareyshino, can be visited the Dome tomb "Punar Kaya" which means rock well in Turkish. The water that rises from the tomb is collected in two stone basin carved into the rock before it. The tomb is revered among local people as sacred, as there is a belief that the place and the water flowing from the tomb, have curative power.

In the village of Benkovski you can see a few sites:

• the renovated mosque in the center of the village where Muslims from all over the region gather to pray;

• the venerable oak, over 200 years old, declared protected;

• a Thracian rock tomb in Veslets heighbourhood - carved in a rocky massive, with a semicircular shape. Today, there is a hole in the dome and it is honoured by the local people as a squeeze. After passing through the bushes aro  und the stone they tie threads around to leave the disease there;

• a rocky area, where the elements have for centuries carved the huge stones in a variety of bizarre rock forms of animals and plants, the most interesting of which are "The Crocodile", "The Mushroom", "Lion's Head", etc.

Source:  http://www.kirkovo.bg, http://bulgaria.domino.bg
Photos:  http://www.panoramio.com