Sixteen places nearby

The area

Sixteen places within a day’s reach — caves, fortresses, waterfalls and summits. Each has its own page.

The largest private fortified residence in the Balkans, built for Salih Agush Aga and his three sons.

Two kilometres from the source of the Arda. Spit-roast lamb, Rhodope bagpipes, and two shelters on opposite banks.

You walk in through the water. Not for everyone.

“Rufinka bolna legnala” is one of the hardest Rhodope songs to sing. The girl in it was real.

Tucked below the mountain road. The river has carved the rock into the shape of a throat — hence the name.

The place the hotel is named after. About an hour on foot.

A late-antique and medieval fortress at 1,006 metres, on a cone of marbled limestone.

In the Rhodope dialect a “prisoyka” is a sunlit, south-facing place. The “kartali” were the eagles of Kartalov Kamak.

The Lyutinska river has cut a run of cascades, hidden from the usual routes. You cross on foot, through the water.

Nineteen metres, built by the villagers so people could see how far the Rhodopes go.

The path up goes through old forest and open meadow. The fortress is at the end, but the walk is half of it.

Fifty-five metres, and among the richest in formations in the Rhodopes.

Traces of people from several eras, and the bones of a cave bear.

Over three and a half million years old. One of the oldest in the Rhodopes.

A sacred summit with an ancient sanctuary and no shortage of buried-treasure stories.

Built by two old men from the village so that people could see the real thing. They managed it.

The guides

Two people who know every path.

чака данни

Name, photo and a sentence each. The mockup and the brief name them differently.

чака данни

Name, photo and a sentence each. The mockup and the brief name them differently.