In a small valley, in the Pirin Mountains, lies the village of Lubovishte. It’s a small place, with run-down homes and (oddly enough) a new school house. An unremarkable place, save for two facts:
(1) The only (comfortable) way into this valley is through a tunnel that was blasted out of the sandstone by German engineers during World War II. Without this tunnel, goat tracks are your highways – if that’s what you want to call them.
(2) During the War, the Germans stole all sorts of treasures from Bulgaria – pillaging wealthy homes, art museums and the national archives for anything of value. Some of these items have been recovered from various places throughout Europe, but many have been lost. The story is that the Germans hid their booty somewhere in the Pirins, housing the accounting records and inventory documents in the town of Lubovishte. No-one has ever been able to find these treasures.
Is the story a hoax? Who knows. It’s an interesting tale, though – and the trail to Lubovishte is a lovely one.