A report from the Sofia News Agency at www.novinite.com/newsletter/print.php?id=113906 the Water Bull of Rubisha Lake in the NW of the country is set to become a tourist attraction – it is hoped. However, it is an extremely small body of water in comparison to Loch Ness, a mere one square km. It was formed in the Quaternary, between 5 and 2 million years ago, and is over 30m deep. It is the subject of a folktale, or legend, in which it is said to be bottomless. No rivers enter or exit the lake which is in itself mysterious, adding to its unique attributes – beside the Water Bull. All kinds of scary creatures from Slavic mythology are bound up in this figure – with the head of a bull, a body of a giant, and the tail of a fish. So what does that remind you of?
In addition, a young girl, so the tale claims, was sacrificed annually to the Water Bull – and a ritual procession to the lake is to be repeated (for the tourists and the revenue they might generate).