In the spot where the majestic Pirin and Rodopi Mountains come together, around 50 kilometres south of the major ski-resort of Bansko, lays perhaps the best destination for rural tourism in Bulgaria. The mineral water springs of the village of Ognyanovo and the spectacular architecture of the villages of Leshten and Kovachevitsa, situated on the rolling western-most hills of the Rodopi Mountains, were known only to Bulgarian village life afficionados until a few years ago. Recently, however, they have started to open up and attract tourists. Besides staying in the sleepy and somewhat melancholic houses whose windows overlook the stern blue-to-black peaks of Pirin, there is now another reason to head in that direction: the nearby remains of the epic Roman town of Nikopolis ad Nestum. They lay covered in the grass for decades but a recent archaeological face-lift has made them shine again, telling ancient stories and stirring imagination.

The Ruins: Nikopolis ad Nestum

Nikopolis ad Nestum is one of the significant Roman sites in Bulgaria. It came into existence in 106AD, on the occasion of Emperor Trajan’s victory over the Dacians near the Mesta River. It was inhabited, with some interruptions, until the late Middle Ages, and its ruins during the nineteenth century reached as much as eight metres in height.



Nikopolis ad Nestum was one of the most important cities during the Roman and the early Byzantine Age, a settlement on the road that connected the Aegean coast and the central road Via Egnatia through the Rodopi with the Thracian lowlands, as well as the only strategic link of the Mesta River valley with the Maritsa River and the peninsula’s interior.

In his book Travels along the Lowlands of Struma, Mesta and Bregalnitsa. Bitola, Prespa and Ohrid, dating back to more than 100 years ago, the Bulgarian ethnographer Vassil Kanchov wrote of its decline: “When the Turks came, the most powerful place in the whole valley was the city of Nikopol... After a long-lasting siege and bloodshed, the Turks conquered Nikopol and, in their wrath, brought it to the ground, and the population partly escaped and was partly killed off.”

And although many Bulgarians are probably familiar with the site’s name, there are only a few who can point out its exact location.



And it isn’t any wonder – until several years ago, even many of the residents of the neighbouring village of Garmen had only a vague idea about it. When asked for directions to the site, they would open their eyes widely, shrug their shoulders or start waving around in indefinite directions (the ruins are immediately beyond the four rows of houses and can be seen from the windows of at least half of the homes in Garmen). Some would say there are some remains in the back, but could not tell for sure if they were it.

It is said that stones from the ancient structures – because of their high quality, were used in the building of some of the village’s contemporary houses. Ancient blocks are also placed in some restaurants in Garmen and have even been laid out on display around the gigantic trunk of the century-old tree in the centre.

But things are changing significantly now. In the last year archaeologists cleaned up and began to examine the site, supported by a trans-border project between Bulgaria and Greece, financed by the PHARE programme. The stone slabs from underneath the village trees will be taken back to their original location. Another piece of good news is that the project has supplied the site with guards to protect the excavations from treasure-seekers or entrepreneurial construction firms looking for solid building materials.



As a result of the archaeologists’ efforts, now the surviving parts of the fortress walls are clearly visible, with their gates and towers, as are the remains of the thermal baths, consisting of various structures and pools, and the walls and columns of the ancient city’s internal buildings. Archaeologists studied the Roman and early Byzantine existence of the city, discovering dozens of traces of daily life – mainly in the shape of ceramic pieces and coins.



If you can’t figure out what’s what, the new information centre at the site is staffed by people who can take you around on a tour of the ruins, tell you more about their history and the discoveries.



Despite plans to start collecting an entry fee, for now the ruins can be seen for free – another reason to head there sooner rather than later.

The tour is not only interesting, but it is exceptionally pleasant too – the valley, full of walnut trees, is green and relatively cool even in the summer heat. According to archaeologists, the walnut trees have grown along the length of the fortress wall, attracted by the mortar that was used in its construction, and parts of the wall not yet uncovered can be seen in aerial photographs, traced by the trees.

Ognyanovo

The village of Ognyanovo compensates for its lack of architectural impressiveness with its splendid location in the valley between the two mountains and its warm mineral water springs. The spot of the actual spring leaves much to be desired – taking a dip in the healing water still involves jumping into a cement hole.

It is out in the open and it is not so bad to have a dip in it during the summer. Some people say they also do this in the winter – in that season the experience must surely consist of soaking, while occasionally dipping your whole head to get rid of the icy particles in your hair and then some wild steaming upon exiting the water.

Several hotels in the village fill up their swimming pools with water from the spring, but it is cooler there and swimming in the winter isn’t always possible. For now, the actual hole remains an authentic post-socialist spot, which has escaped damage by mass tourism.

Leshten

This is the first village on the road up the mountain. It consists of no more than 50 houses, most of them dating to the beginning of the last century. Many of them were abandoned in the early 1990s, but entrepreneurially-spirited people later bought and renovated them, turning Leshten into one of the most pleasant spots for individual rural tourism in Bulgaria.



Usually, visitors to Leshten rent an entire house, rather than just a room. The houses tend to have a large dining room and kitchen on the bottom floor and bedrooms with fully civilised bathrooms on the upper one. The rooms can be heated by a fireplace, but lighting a fire isn’t always advisable as the chimneys sometimes don’t work very well, causing the rooms to fill up with smoke.

Compared with the beautiful but uniform houses in the so-called Revivalist architectural style – characterised by a grey, stone base in the bottom half and a white-washed second floor sticking out over the bottom, the clay hut – located in the outskirts of Leshten’s really sticks out.



As a relatively new (it was built only a few years ago) and completely inauthentic addition to the village landscape, the house looks like it came out of a cartoon – its rounded clay walls and little windows are topped with a straw roof, from which a mushroom-shaped chimney sticks out. Some people call it the house of the Smurfs or the Flintstones, other say it looks like a hobbit hut. It is also known, quite cheesily, as the House of Lovers, as many newly-weds spend their honeymoon there.



Regardless of whether you stay there or in one of the traditional Leshten houses, however, the mountains are just а step away from your door. The Rodopi are in their full splendour here, with their mighty but gently rolling hills, the aroma of flowers and pine trees, wild paths and meadows dotted with mushrooms. From more elevated spots, the raw peaks of Pirin are also visible.

On the turn of the road, near the municipality building, which looks a bit like a Western film décor, is the restaurant – a popular gourmet spot where one can sample sausages with chopped meat and a large selection of traditional salads and appetizers. Another one of the factors making the restaurant a hit is the ropes-and-bells system in the courtyard, used to summon the wait staff. It is an excellent idea, which should be applied to many other eateries in Bulgaria, with the ropes best tied to the waiters’ ankles.

Kovachevitsa

As one of the most impressive villages in the Rodopi Mountains, Kovachevitsa is a historical and architectural reserve and to a certain extent – one of history’s curiosities. Even though it is exceptionally inaccessible and distant from other settlements, it has the size of a small town rather than a village.



The reason for the anomaly is that, at the beginning and the middle of the seventeenth century, when Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman Empire, the village became inhabited by people from the neighbouring villages and more faraway places. The Bulgarians who settled here during the forced religious conversion process carried out by the Ottoman authorities were the ones who refused to accept Islam. They picked Kovachevitsa because of its location and inaccessibility high up in the mountains, as well its relatively mild climate and abundance of drinking water.

This is how different neighbourhoods, based on clan ties, came to exist in the village, like the Tarnovska neighbourhood, populated by families from Bulgaria’s erstwhile capital Veliko Tarnovo, and the Arnautska neighbourhood a century later, formed by a new migratory wave from Western Macedonia in the eighteenth century.

During the 1950s, the village started to become depopulated, as its residents moved away to the nearby larger towns. Many of Kovachevitsa’s impressive houses were deserted and started to crumble. Luckily, Bulgaria’s film industry discovered the place during the 1970s, and more than 20 films were shot on location in the village since then.

Nowadays almost all the houses in Kovachevitsa have been bought and renovated by city people. The white and brown tones of two and three-floored buildings, with bay-windows on the upper floors hanging over the narrow, cobblestone streets, stand out against the mildly rounded hills of the Rodopi. Here and there, some houses are fenced by stone walls, while verandas always face to the south or west.

Some, but not many, of the houses are inhabited year-round, and around a dozen of them function like hotels. This, to a point, takes away from the village’s authentic feel, but on the other hand the houses, dating from the second half of the eighteenth century, are so expressive with their architecture that they compensate this small shortcoming – it is as if they themselves live in Kovachevitsa instead of the people.

Like people, many of the houses have names, called after their erstwhile owners: Zhecheva, Melchina and Kyupova House, Kapsazovi Houses, Zhereva, Daskalova, Velcheva and Guyzeleva House.

Another important change is that, for a couple of years now, Kovachevitsa boasts three restaurants – Siniyat Vir on the village square, Bratiata and the tavern in the Byalata Kashta hotel. Despite the comparatively high prices, the food there is tasty, and the choice is welcome, since – several years ago, the food in the village’s only restaurant would run out and visitors were forced to eat Turkish delights from the village store.

Practical information: Nikopolis ad Nestum is located about 50 kilometres southeast of Bansko, on the road through Dobrinishte to Gotse Delchev. Driving distance is just under 1 hour. From Sofia, which is around 200 kilometres to the northwest, driving time is around 3 hours.

Access to the archaeological remains is free of charge for the time being through an entry tax will be introduced soon. At the Information Centre, located at the site itself, you can get a guide and other materials connected to the findings.

From the village of Garmen, where the remains are, there is newly paved road to Ognyanovo, Leshten and Kovachevitsa.



This text is published with the support of the programme PHARE – CBC Bulgaria- Greece 2004 - Grant Scheme for Promotion of the cultural, tourist and human resources in the cross-border region.

Project "Nikopolis ad Nestum"- The city of Victory near Mesta BG2004/016-782.01.06.03.05