Natural landmark "Wonderful Bridges of Erkyupria" - an impressive rock phenomenon in the Western Rhodopes
- Stefan Ivanov
- Jul 6, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Jan 17
Dear friends, as we have all personally witnessed, crossing our small territory Bulgaria far and wide, our homeland is amazingly beautiful and possesses magnificent natural treasures - inaccessible, supporting the skies, snowy rocky peaks, clear silvery rivers flowing through vast green plains, blue sapphire lakes reflecting the fluffy white clouds above them, dense cool forests covering the majestic mountain slopes, stormy foamy waves crashing into golden fine soft sand created by a million colorful shells, ancient golden treasures gracefully sculpted by unknown hands, and from every village a huge number of historical monuments of culture sweetly whisper ancient stories and tell legends!
All this makes my heart pound, and my eyes fill with tears of joy!
All this makes my head spin and I always wonder what new wonderful strangeness I should take to enjoy it, to film it, to sing about it, to tell you about it!
I will tell you, dear friends, that the natural, unimaginable and wondrous beauty of Bulgaria has been carefully arranged and duly categorized into long lists.
Here, before you, is now an official natural landmark from the Western Rhodopes of Bulgaria, included in the national register of protected territories and protected zones.и.
The strangeness I present today has called to me dozens of times, and I, captivated by its unearthly, even alien beauty, have visited it several times. That is why in this publication I have collected a small part of the unspeakable beauty I have discovered over the years, which I present to you with great pleasure.
Dear friends, with unquenchable trepidation, sincere joy and deep excitement I present to you the natural landmark "The Wonderful Bridges of Erkyupria" - an impressive rock phenomenon located in the Western Rhodopes.
The Wonderful Bridges of Erkyupriya, also known as the Rock Bridges, are a unique, highly impressive and incredibly beautiful rock phenomenon, towering in the karst valley of the Erkyupriya River in the Western Rhodopes at an altitude of 1450 meters above sea level, east of Golyam Persenk Peak and southeast of Malak Persenk Peak.
The giant arches of the bridges were formed as a result of the erosional activity of an extremely deep and turbulent river in the past, which transformed the cracks in the marble into a deep water cave, the ceiling of which thinned in places over time and collapsed.
It is assumed that the debris from the collapse was subsequently carried away by the raging waters of the ancient river.
As a result, the two marble bridges that are so impressive today remain.
The Great Bridge (the Great Arch)
The Great Bridge (the large giant arch) is the first rock formation that every visitor here sees, and deeply amazed by the wonder, inevitably heads towards it.
In the next photo moment I have shown this incredibly impressive rock arch, the frame being a stack of 22 separate vertical frames, combined into one.
The large bridge is about fifteen meters wide at its widest parts and is almost a hundred meters long.
As you can see in another extremely detailed photo moment (a stack of 33 separate vertical frames), the large bridge (the giant rock arch) is made up of three smaller bridges (rock arches), the largest of which is 45 meters high and about 40 meters wide.
Passing under the large rock arch, you will come out on the other side, as I did. From here I captured this short video, called "The Large Rock Arch", which I suggest you watch now.
It's phenomenally beautiful, isn't it!
Now go back, right under the giant rock arch.
I suggest you very carefully go down in the direction of the cheerful Erkyupriya stream, which is the heir of the ancient and turbulent river, and which today quietly murmurs, still sculpting the rocky sections.
For this purpose, a small, steep and narrow path has been formed, which is not secured and you should be extremely careful because you may slip if you are not wearing suitable hiking shoes and fall.
A small wooden bridge has been built over the Erkyupriya River, allowing you to cross its waters to enjoy the impressive rock formations and unearthly views.
This short video of mine, called "The View from the Wooden Bridge", was filmed from the aforementioned bridge, and after watching it, you will get an excellent idea of what awaits you down there..
You are directly under the huge rock arch of the large bridge and this angle provides a unique opportunity to enjoy in an impressive way the perfection of this incomparable natural landmark.
Now, while you are on the wooden bridge, pay attention to the small stream flowing under the huge rock arches. Do you see the huge rock by the river, at the base of the arch?
This rock is probably a remnant of an ancient collapse, due to the erosive action of water. This gigantic piece of rock was too big and heavy for the waters to drag it to where it knows not.
Try to carefully climb onto it, as I did. The place on the rock will give you a truly incomparable perspective.
This short video of mine, which I called "The View from the Top of the Rock," will immerse you in the wonders even deeper.
I will also tell you that in the height of the summer season, the Erkyupriya River is rather a small and quiet stream, whose waters gurgle softly, exposing a huge number of stones. If you are properly equipped, well-shod and with a cheerful adventurous spirit, I will now offer you a bigger adventure.
Along the numerous stones mentioned, step by step, stone by stone, take the path under the smaller rock arches – right along the river. Be careful, because some of the stones are slippery and if you step on them, you will find yourself directly in the water and you may get wet.
Slowly, you will find yourself deeper and deeper into this unique open, bright cave, enjoying the wonderful rock formations formed by the action of water millions of years ago.
Arriving in the middle of the tunnel formed above the river, I stopped for a moment, prepared the camera, and captured another wonderful video. Here it is, shared for you!
I called this short video of mine "Crossing the River".
Slowly, carefully, but with increasing euphoria, you will find yourself on the other side of the large rock arch, where several big and quite pleasant surprises await you!
Here is a photo moment that I have named "On the other side".
So! For every adventurer at heart, who loves adventures and calmly accepts challenges, here is my description, called:
What did I find on the other side?
Coming out of the other side of the bright and open cave, I witnessed another true Rhodope miracle, revealed only to the few who dared to cross the river in search of adventure.
I find myself in the middle of a narrow, small and wonderfully beautiful river valley that the river has shaped along the marbles and slopes of the mountain. I look up and see the narrow blue strip of sky, surrounded by the rocks and the mountain. The trees have fixed their gaze upwards towards the sun, seeking its light, its warmth and God's grace. And I, standing in the middle of this wonderful beauty, listening to the murmur of the river, caressed by the generous afternoon sunbeams, caressed by the gust of wind that rushed headlong into the rock tunnel, was filled with sincere gratitude, immeasurable joy, complete happiness and in endless euphoria I captured frame after frame, photo moment after photo moment of what I had experienced.
What?! You don't believe me? Are my eyes deceiving me or do I see a large number of skeptics among you, shrugging their shoulders listlessly?! You insist on more evidence that would brilliantly illustrate these words of mine? Okay! Challenge accepted! Here it is:
This magical short film, which, through the elegant strings of a classical guitar and subtle notes, takes me back to that hour again and again, is for all of you now! Of course, the film is called "On the Other Side" and will fully support what I have written, so that even the biggest skeptics, the most stubborn unbelievers, and the worst romantics will gasp with their mouths wide open and with huge and wide-open eyes to share "Wow! The man is telling the truth!"
Here is the tunnel I just came out of. The first of the few surprises mentioned is this small but beautiful waterfall, which merrily rustles between the rocks.
The more observant of you will immediately notice that since I named this photo moment "The First Waterfall", I also came across a second one - and that's true! But I still don't even suspect about the second, even bigger and more beautiful waterfall, and I'm telling my story sequentially, so I'm continuing with what I experienced.
Trees fell from a violent storm, countless stones, many rays of sunshine, lush greenery, darting swallows inhabiting their rocky home, a cheerful brook trout and me – a direct witness to yet another Rhodope miracle! I felt alive! Overwhelmed by immense joy, filled with euphoria, happiness had taken possession of me and I was slipping through the trees and walking along the rocks, forward and forward.
Suddenly I see this!
A huge rock, blocking the river like a cork, with a few trees on it and a larger waterfall – lush, noisy and extremely beautiful.
"Surely it doesn't have a name?" – I thought, "because no one has thought of giving it one!"
At that moment, the discoverer in me spoke with a special pathos in his voice:
"I christen you "The Wonderful Waterfall of the Erkyupriya River!"
The Little Bridge (the Little Arch)
The small bridge is located along the Erkupriya River, about 200 meters from the large bridge (the huge rock arch) that I have been telling you about so far. It is impassable, about 60 meters long and has a total height of 50 meters. Its rock arch is about 30 meters high.
After the small bridge, there is a very small third bridge, which is a sinkhole cave in which the waters of Erkyupriya disappear, only to reappear on the surface after about three kilometers..
The area around the two bridges is occupied by centuries-old coniferous forests, composed mainly of spruce trees.
In the register of protected areas and protected zones in Bulgaria, the Wonderful Bridges – Erkyupriya is a protected area of the category: Natural Landmark.
How to get to the natural landmark "The Wonderful Bridges of Erkyupriya"?
The wonderful Erkupriya bridges are a curious creation that you will discover by setting the navigation to the following link:
The route is Asenovgrad – Chepelare – Smolyan.
Traces of the turnoff to the village of Zabardo and the natural phenomenon of the Miraculous Bridges.
You will hardly miss this turnoff, because there you will be greeted by a bagpiper-levent and a flamboyant, tense young lady – a sculpture-symbol of Rhodope hospitality.
While you listen to the Rhodope song "Bela soum, bella, yunache" (the song is set to automatically play five times a day), the young lady greets you with "Welcome", offering you a warm, freshly baked pita with honey.
As you can see from the sign, it is about 16 kilometers to the Wonderful Bridges. The road is good, but narrow, with several bends, but it is an excellent ride because you are surrounded on all sides by the magically beautiful Rhodope Mountains.
Arriving at the location, you can leave your cars in the wide parking lot or by the roadside, in case there are no spaces.
And finally, my dear friends,
you shouldn't miss checking out
the special photo album with moments –
discovered, experienced, filmed and shared with you!
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