The town of Ardino spreads on the two banks of the small Egridere river, 35km to the west of Kurdzhali and 300km to the southeast of Sofia. Ardino is believed to have been established by the Thracians, while during Roman times, a road that connected the Upper Thracian Lowland with the Aegean Sea was built to pass through it.
The neighbourhood of Ardino has plenty of interesting tourist sights. One of these is the Devil’s Bridge (Sheytankyupryu) over the Arda river, which is within walking distance from the village of Dyadovtsi (6km away from Ardino). The ancient stone bridge, which is 56m long and 3.5m wide, has three vaults. Over one of the key stones in the central vault, visitors can see a small hexagon impress, known as Solomon’s Seal and being the first of its kind discovered on a bridge in Bulgaria.
Another sight in the region is the Krivus Fortress which is located to the north of the village of Bashevo (18km to the north of Ardino) and is built over a steep cliff, the slopes of which go down to the Arda river. The citadel of the fortress, which is 50m long, 40m wide and rising up to 6m, is most preserved. A part of its northern wall, together with a defence platform, can still be seen. Here, excavators have found bronze crosses and a feudal coat of arms.
Within 25-30min of walking distance past the Ardino hospital, one can reach an impressive rock formation, known as the Eagle’s Rocks, or Kartalkaya. Here, at an unreachable height, human hand has dug more than 100 rock niches that served as necropolises to the Thracians. Each niche has a trapezium shape and was used to put ritual vessels in it. The sanctuary is dated to the 5th-4th c. BC, according to the pieces of ceramic vessels discovered there.
