Bulgaria property news and articles

The village of Trigrad, with its awesome gorge and caves, is the star attraction in the southwestern Rhodope, 30km south of Devin. The Trigrad Gorge provides one of the most spectacular vistas in Bulgaria, its sheer walls overhanging the foaming river Trigradska, which disappears into the fantastic Devil’s Throat Cave, accessible via a 150m-long tunnel. The thunder of water can be heard long before you see a huge waterfall, which vanishes into the canyon through the enormous Roaring Hall.

The wild terrain surrounding the sprawling village abounds in caves -102 have been identified so far. Trigrad is a starting point for horseback riding, biking and hiking to the village of Mugla and the Yagodinska Cave, famous for its unique cave pearls and other formations as well as for the 7,000-year-old Neolithic implements that have been found there. The Wonder Bridge is a natural phenomenon. Its name comes from a giant natural bridge that stretches over a small river, formed when an old cave was destroyed by an earthquake.

Bachkovo Monastery is the second-largest monastery in Bulgaria, which was founded in 1083 by a Byzantine military commander of Georgian origin. Only the two-storey bone-vault, which lies about 300m to the east of the present-day complex, remains from that time. It has unusual wall-paintings that rank among the most valuable works of Orthodox art of the 11th-i2th centuries. The village of Shiroka Luka (about 10 minutes’ drive from Pamporovo) has the official status of architectural and ethnographic reserve because of its 110 listed buildings. lt is also famous for one of the country’s two schools of Bulgarian folklore, music and dance.

Property in Pamporovo

In Pamporovo itself, prices for finished apartments can be from €600 per square metre, while an apartment in nearby Smolyan costs around €500 per square metre. There are luxurous developments with spa complexes which offer apartments for sale for €1000 and more.

Around Pamporovo

Smolyan and Chepelare

The town of Smolyan (15km from Pamporovo) is becoming a popular base for home-buying in the Rhodopi. Parts of the town are modern, but there are several preserved houses from the Bulgarian Revival period (1762-1878), such as typical ‘Mermovata’ and ‘Pridasova’ houses. The arched bridge over the river Cherna was built in the 18th century. The historical museum of the middle parts of the Rhodope Mountains, the biggest planetarium in Bulgaria and the Rhodope Theatre of Drama are also well worth visiting.

The town of Chepelare, 10km from Pamporovo, is another favoured spot for property purchase in Bulgaria. During the Bulgarian Revival there was a flurry of cultural and educational achievements in the Chepelare region. Many great religious complexes were constructed during this time, of which 14 churches and 72 chapels still remain. Chepelare is the centre of the Bulgarian School of Biathlon, which is the sport that brought the only Winter Olympic title to Bulgaria.

Some of the cultural and historical landmarks in the Chepelare area are the Tsirikova Fortress Church, set high on a peak 0.5km southeast of the village of Orehevo, and an ancient Thracian settlement in the Tyovnata Dupka Cave, 2km east of Zabardo village.