The Devil's Bridge, Bulgaria
The Devil’s bridge is an old Ottoman bridge, Constructed between 1515 and 1518 in the early 16th century, by a builder Dimitar. ‘’Dyavolski most’’ in Bulgarian or ‘’Sheytan Kyupriya’’ in Turkish, it’s the most stunning of the humpbacked bridges that cross the Arda River in Bulgaria. It was built over a demolished Roman bridge and cuts from the steep slopes of the Rhodope Mountains along an ancient road linking the Aegean Sea and the Northern Thracian Valley / Gornotrakiyskata Nizina /.
The Bridge is 56 m long and has three arches, but also features holes with small semicircular arches to read water level. This is one of the places in Bulgaria that is still authentic. There you won’t see retailers or coffee – houses. The way to the bridge is very bad, it is better to go there by foot, instead a car because the nature in this area is magnificent and very impressive. The reason some locals are hesitant to cross at night is rooted in dark lore.
Like most of the old things in Bulgaria, The Devil’s bridge has its own folk tales too. One of them is about the builder Dimitar and his meeting with The Devil. In XVI century the Arda River was deep, wildly running and rough, so there weren’t many places where you can build a bridge. One of those few places was a gorge near today’s town of Ardino and Dyadovtsi village. The town and the village didn’t exist in those times and today the village is abandoned. So it appears that the bridge survived longer than a village.
The Legend of The Devil’s Bridge - Now let’s go back to the XVI century and our builder Dimitar. Until then all bridges built on that place had been destroyed by the rough Arda River and most of the people believed that this place had been cursed. But despite the curse, Dimitar decided to try to make another bridge.
Thereupon The Devil appeared to our hero and offered him to reveal the secret for building the bridge. But The Devil had some requirements - to enwall the shadow of his wife (That means that the wife will die soon after building the bridge, it is common story in Bulgarian legends), to build it in 40 days, and some other easy tasks like these. Anyway the most interesting requirements for us was that The Devil wanted his own image to be integrated in the bridge. But It was very complicated. He wanted to be both visible and invisible, both touchable and non-existing. If the builder could not do it, The Devil would take his soul as well. About the Wife – she was a loser in any case, because her soul was already taken.
Dimitar was ready to surprise even The Devil. He was ready in 39 days, the Satan had its requirements fulfilled and left with only one soul – the wife’s one. But his face was staying forever above Arda River thanks to Dimitar the builder.
The most asked question is How to find The Devil? – You have to get there just before noon, in a sunny day. You will see a beautiful Ottoman Bridge and its reflection in the water. Then you have to tilt your head and use some imagination and you will see The Devil’s horns, eyes and his whole face.
In 1984 the Devil's bridge was declared a cultural monument. It was also the spot for filming several scenes from the 1988 Bulgarian movie ‘’Time of Violence’’ (Vreme Razdelno).
Book a private trip to The Devil’s Bridge. It doesn't matter the city you want to depart - Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, etc... We can arrange your one-day trip to this destination and many other in Bulgaria. If you choose our services you can be sure that you will have English-speaking driver, clean and air-conditioned car, which would make your vacation more pleasant and comfortable.
