There is no Bulgarian who has not heard of Velingrad. A small city full of hot springs where people go just to relax or to heal and threat some physical and of course, mental conditions. Velingrad is about two hours drive from the capital city of Sofia.

Along that route is a small village, called Dorkovo. It is well known for its unique Paleontological museum and the nearby ancient city and castle of Tsepina.

Well, I am not going to fill my story today with legends and history, however I strongly recommend you check out the two wikipedia links I am going to put below my story today as you will be deeply impressed.

That castle has prehistoric origin and appears in the Bulgarian history somewhere around 9th century but there are traces left that are much much older. Said shortly, the castle was an important part of several Bulgarian kingdoms, the Byzantine empire and the Ottoman empire too.

Let's say it this way, a property that changed its owners a lot :)

Our walk began when we parked our car just a few hundred meters away from the castle, there was a good road leading there. Still, I was glad that I took my hiking boots. A very steep gravel path.

I was melting not only because of the hot sun rays but mainly because of the breathtaking views along our narrow path up.

Tsepina Castle is located in Rhodope mountain, known as one of the most beautiful mountains in Bulgaria. That's the same mountain holding the birth place of Orpheus!

My lungs were full of fresh air with the divine aroma of pine trees and resin...

I'd say, my perception of it all is, this is one excellent place to spend a couple of hours outdoors with the family and the friends, exploring the beautiful mountain and its views around, reading about the history of the castle and the importance of that place back in the ancient times.

As you can see, nowadays only ruins are left, but to be honest, I prefer that "authentic" view, contrary to the "renovated" castles, planted at some other historic sites in our country...

Some blossoming herbs, some dry flowers, the nature of Rhodopes is really mesmerizing.

While walking around the remains of the stone walls, I tried to imagine how would it feel to live here, to have a home on top of that stone peak.

Even in the present time I could tell that castle had been such a strategical place.

As my eyes could travel for tens of kilometers in almost every direction. And this was exactly what I did a lot that day. I traveled in space and time through my imagination...

I am so glad we have decided to come visit and walk around this historical place!

Now here you could check out the two links to the Wikipedia resources that I mentioned above. Thankfully, this time there are English versions available :)

Tsepina Castle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsepina

Dorkovo Paleontology museum of Pliocene epoch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorkovo_Museum

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