Bulgarian Local Girls - The Mystic of Bulgarian Girl

Many years ago, when there was no organised tourism in the Rhodope Mountains and people measured their wealth by the number of sheep in their flocks, a dragon appeared near Mt Golyam Perelik. Bulgarian dragons are fairly likeable creatures. Their only real flaw is a tendency to fall in love with comely bulgarian local girls and snatch them away. Unlike their Western counterparts, however, they do not devour them or keep them locked in impregnable castles. They marry them and have beautiful, winged offspring.

The dragon that lived on Mt Golyam Perelik in the Rhodope was an exception. He tormented the people from the nearby villages of Zabardo, Lyaskovo, Studenets and Orehovo. Instead of falling in love with a bulgarian girl and settling down, he chased the sheep in the fields -scaring them so that they gave little milk - and ate the most sumptuous ones. Rhodope folk have kindly dispositions, but villagers finally lost patience and attacked the dragon with shepherd's crooks, pitchforks, stones and several flintlocks - weapons usually reserved for wolves.

The dragon took fright. He fled and hid in a deep cave among the tall spruces under Mt Golyam Perelik. Then something unforeseen happened. Whether due to embarrassment, fear or belated pangs of conscience, the dragon suffered a kind of heart attack. He simply exploded. Only his bones remained on the meadow by the river - two huge stone arches over the Aydarsko Dere River, known today as the Wondrous Bridges.

The Wondrous Bridges (also called the Rock Bridges) were declared a protected area in 1949. Looking at a picture, it's hard to see why. At first glance, they appear like large boulders eroded by a river. But if you study the details of the photo, you'll see your mistake. The small colourful spots under, around and on the bridges are really tourists and what looked like blades of grass are spruce trees.

The first bridge, the largest, measures 96 m, or 315 ft, in length and 15 m, or 49 ft, at its widest part. Like the Ottoman bridges over Rhodope rivers (don't be surprised if you hear locals call them "Roman" bridges), it has three arches. And just like them, the largest one is in the middle: it is 45 m, or 148 ft, high and 40 m, or 131 ft, in length.

About 200 m downstream is the second Wondrous Bridge. It is 60 m, or 197 ft, long and 50 m, or 164 ft, high and its single arch is merely 30 m, or 99 ft, high. Right after it is the third and last bridge, which is in fact a cave. The Aydarsko Dere flows into it and disappears underground to emerge again after about two km.

No matter how informative photos and figures may be, the only way to get an idea of the grandeur of the Wondrous Bridges is to go and see them for yourself.

It's not hard to get there, although the road is not the best.Thanks to the EU PHARE programme, the nearby car park is now fit for purpose. A tourist information centre has sprung up. As of this year, there's an admission charge to get to the rock formation.

Some Bulgarian tourists objected to the Chepelare municipal council's decision to impose a two leva entrance fee for the Wondrous Bridges. Those supporting the move point out that the money was needed for cleaning and developing the formation. Certainly, the entire area has already benefited from the introduction of litter bins. And newly installed railings have made the bridges much safer.

But there has also been another "development": last year, in places that are harder to climb, the rock was hewn to make, in the words of some reports, "natural stone steps". The reason? Tourists have to be able to walk unimpeded. Even if "unimpeded" necessitates destroying a million-year-old section of scenic rock classified as a protected area.

So far, nobody has put up loudspeakers to remind you to "mind the step" or cut down the pines by the bridges to give a better view. But who knows? Tourism is a growing business in Bulgaria.

Source: Vag Magazine