Not far from Pernik, in the Vitosha mountain above the village of Bosnek, there is a miraculous spring known as the Living Water. If you walk along the karst alley, well marked with many information signs, in an hour and a half you will reach a stone sculpture of a dragon’s head, from where you can quench your thirst with healing water. The water there does not flow constantly and the legend says that if a person with bad deeds stands in front of the dragon, the water stops flowing. The stone fountain is mentioned as early as the 17th century in the travelogues of the Ottoman traveler Evliya chelebi, who called the spring the Fountain of Happiness.

The spring still gathers thousands of people who believe in the power of the Living Water there and its healing power. Near the stone fountain there is a small cave, whose entrance is only a meter high. In the lobby of the cave there is a stone with an icon of the Mother of God, where you can light a candle and leave a coin for health. The cave is also called “Living Water”.

The old people in the village know another legend – once there was a lake where a terrible water bull lived, which attacked and killed people’s cattle. One day people decided to get rid of him, put blades on the horns of their animals and so wounded him. He entered the water of the lake and it turned red with blood, and then his water disappeared. Legend has it that every time the bull turns into the ground under the lake, he stops and releases the water.

The road to the spring is not difficult and goes through meadows and a beautiful beech forest. You can go there on a family outing with the children and eat in the shelter next to the fountain with the stone dragon. Along the path grow fragrant herbs, from which you can collect a small bouquet for aromatic tea.