The great arch
11.5 metres.
Klearchos Kapoutsis — CC BY 2.0 · Valpamoukov — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marie Čcheidzeová — CC BY-SA 4.0 · www.vacacionesbulgaria.com — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marie Čcheidzeová — CC BY-SA 4.0
Devil's Bridge is a stone arch bridge over the Arda River in a narrow gorge of the Rhodope Mountains in southern Bulgaria, about 10 km from the town of Ardino and some 22 km west of Kardzhali in a straight line. It was part of an old road linking the plains of Thrace with the north Aegean coast. Master Dimitar rebuilt the bridge between 1515 and 1518, and local legend holds that the Romans first built it to connect the Aegean with Thrace. It is the largest and best-known bridge of its kind in the Rhodopes, and was declared a cultural monument in 1984. The bridge is 56 metres long and 3.5 metres wide, resting on three arches, the largest 11.5 metres high, with small semicircular openings in its body once used to read the water level. A low stone parapet runs along the sides, and breakwaters face the current. Its great arch rises over clear green water between white rocks and forested slopes. Visitors walk across the cobbled crown of the bridge and climb down to the riverside rocks to photograph the arch and its reflection. The international Sultans Trail hiking route passes it between Ardino and Kardzhali, and the last stretch of road in is narrow and mountainous.
11.5 metres.
On the Arda.
A hiking route.
Arda River gorge, near Ardino, Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria
Yes, on foot.
Mountainous and narrow near the end.