Ogosta Reservoir

Directions

язовир Огоста

The Ogosta reservoir is one of the largest lakes in Bulgaria, about 23.6 km², beginning only about 600 m from the edge of Montana and about 60 m above the town. It is second in the country by volume among artificial lakes. The Ogosta, Barzia and Zlatitsa rivers feed it.

How it formed

Building took about twenty years, from the late 1950s, and the earth dam with a clay core, about 1 km long, was opened in 1987. It was meant to irrigate the farmland from Montana to Zlatia near Lom, but the pipeline network was never finished, and the water now mainly serves two power stations, Kosharnik and Ogosta. Fishing and fish farming also go on here.

History

The lake covered the villages of Zhivovtsi and Kalimanitsa, whose people were moved to Montana and Berkovitsa; Kalimanitsa was the birthplace of the writer Yordan Radichkov. When the level falls, as in early 2025, the church of Zhivovtsi emerges from the water.

Visit

Swimming

No reliable information

Tips

People come for fishing, with carp, pike-perch, bream, asp and catfish among the fish, and for boating. Montana has cafés, a museum and Roman remains to add to a visit.

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Show on map

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Photo: hr:Suradnik:Bonč · CC BY-SA 3.0

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