This visit to the city of Ardino was somewhat forced.

Don't get me wrong, there was nothing bad about it.

If you ask 100 Bulgarians what's the most popular thing about Ardino, probably 99 of them will tell you that's the city that's near the Devil's Bridge, one of the most popular river stone bridges dating back from Roman times. That bridge is a local and international attraction and I think that if it wasn't a bit challenging to travel to it, millions of tourists will be visiting it each year.

So, how was this city stroll forced? :)

Well, I was driving to pay the Devil's Bridge another visit and there were major road works so the road was totally closed. The people who were controlling (it was actually stop and return) the traffic told us to get back in about three-four hours.

So, we drove back to the city, that's just a few kilometers back and the city walk began...

Let me quickly share some general info with you.

"Ardino is a town in Southern Bulgaria. It is located in Kardzhali Region and is close to the city of Smolyan. The town is the administrative center of Ardino Municipality. Until 1934, the settlement had two names – Egri Dere and Hadzhi Koy. In 1960, Ardino was declared a town. According to data from the GRAO as of March 15, 2024, 4,518 people live in the town at their current address and 10,211 people at their permanent address."

There is an English Wikipedia page for the city but I don't recommend using it, as it is obviously outdated. So better translate for you some updated info...

https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D1%80%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BE

If you are interested about the history of this settlements, that's the best place to go ;)

What I like about Ardino is the fact that few religions coexist peacefully here.

This main info tableau is an interesting proof of that concept ;)

You see, festival announcements, obituaries, ads for selling properties, lambs and kids, and many more... all put at the same time. Controversial? Not?

I could tell the state is investing a lot of money to turn the city into a tourist destination.

Of course, there are other local destinations to visit that are worth it. Including one ancient Thracian ritual place, the "Eagle Rocks": https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8_%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8

That's a story for another time, though.

No matter how much money is poured into making a city look better, still, unfortunately, stray dogs are something common...

It was good those two were friendly ;)

The mosque is found in the central part of the city, just next to the brand new roundabout.

I hope the road coming too close to that old water source doesn't destroy it with time.

If you remember how the Devil's Bridge looks like, from some of my previous articles about it, this water source is a scaled down copy of the bridge itself.

How cute, isn't it? ;)

I like cities that have central parts where cars and other motor vehicles are prohibited.

Ardino is one of those cities.

It has a promenade and in slang, we call those places "scrapers" or "graters" as people sometimes take slow strolls there, just killing time and hoping to bump into other people they know, or they just meet some new people.

So that is the most usual place for cafeterias, bistros, fashion boutiques and so on...

And as the city is located in the Rhodope mountains, the air there is clean.

Elders say Rhodopes are a healing mountain, so plenty of centenarians live around.

You see that old truck? Funny, or sad, those are the maintenance vehicles of the water supply companies operating in Bulgaria. I don't even want to comment on that kind of business here, no wonder why so many compatriots suffer from lack of running water...

New bridges, new street lights, so many new stuff around.

Quite interesting about this city is that more than the half of its population lives and works abroad. Turkey and Western Europe, those are the usual destinations.

Ops, sorry, the authorities insist we all use the new name for the country, Türkiye.

We tried to visit the local Orthodox Christian church.

It seems though, it is open only during official services and holidays...

Church "Saint Archangel Michael"

See how the Universe makes sure we have at least one reason to visit the city at least once again...

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