Trigrad River Gorge
The next day, a visit to the gorge of the Trigrad River and Devil's Throat Cave with its waterfall. Trigrad Gorge spreads a mile or so along the Trigradska River. The 700' high gorge with sheer rocks on both sides of the river, forms a narrow rocky river bed which goes underground, resurfaces in Devil’s Throat Cave creating 18 waterfalls there, and then reappears on the surface.
From there, a five-hour hike to Yagodina Cave. The trail was actually a gravel path that led through pine woods and meadows along a ridge above the cave. The Yagodina Cave is a complex, multi-storey cave system over six miles long and five stories tall. There have been some archaeological excavations in the cave revealing a Late Neolithic population who occupied it during the winter and produced pottery. They have found a large amount of tools, ceramic productions and a variety of kilns and decorations. There was a special path through the cave to see the formations and hanging Stalactites.
This hike up gave gorgeous views of the Rhodopi Mountains and surrounding area. The Rhodopi Mountains are considered the sunniest and most extensive mountain range in Bulgaria, extending into Greece. According to legend, this was the home of Orpheus, one of the chief poets and musicians of antiquity who was able to charm wild beasts with music and singing.
Most of our lunches were sandwiches that we'd find benches to sit on and eat, rest weary legs and people-watch....
Enough sightseeing for the day, the bus headed to Kovachevitsa and the next guesthouse for two nights. Kovachevitsa/Kovachevitza has only 50 inhabitants and was founded at the end of the 17th century. It has been declared a national architectural and historical reserve, very easy to understand. Tucked away in the remote southwest of the Rhodopes at 3,000', houses are still built the way they were then in stone and wood with slate roofs surrounded by thick forests, mountains and a crystal-clear river. What a place and unbelievably gorgeous! AND, then we saw Kapsazov's Guesthouse....
