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Bulgarian: - Greek:
Highest point
PeakGolyam Perelik
Elevation2,191 m (7,188 ft)
Coordinates41°36?04?N 24°34?27?E﻿ / ﻿41.60111°N 24.57417°E﻿ / 41.60111; 24.57417Coordinates: 41°36?04?N 24°34?27?E﻿ / ﻿41.60111°N 24.57417°E﻿ / 41.60111; 24.57417
Length240 km (150 mi) west-east
Width100 km (62 mi) north-south
Area14,735 km2 (5,689 sq mi)
CountriesBulgaria and Greece
Type of rockgranite, gneiss, marble, quartz
Location of the Rhodopes in Bulgaria and Greece

The Rhodopes (; Bulgarian: , Rodopi; Greek: , Rodopi; Turkish: Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, with over 83% of its area in southern Bulgaria and the remainder in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak at 2,191 meters (7,188 ft). The mountain range gives its name to the terrestrial ecoregion Rodope montane mixed forests that belongs in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome and the palearctic ecozone. The region is particularly notable for its karst areas with their deep river gorges, large caves and specific sculptured forms, such as the Trigrad Gorge.


Name and mythology

The name of the Rhodope Mountains is of Thracian origin. Rhod-ope (-o) is interpreted as the first name of a river, meaning "rusty/reddish river", where Rhod- has the same Indo-European root as the Bulgarian "?" (ore, "ruda"), "" (rust, "rda"), "" (red-haired, "ri?"), Latin "rufus" (red), German "rot" (red) and English "red".[1]

In Greek mythology, Queen Rhodope of Thrace, the wife of King Haemus of Thrace, offended the gods,[2] and was changed into a mountain by Zeus and Hera as a punishment along with her husband.[1]

The mountains are also associated with the mythic figure of Orpheus.[]

In the Middle Ages, the mountains were known as the Slavey Mountains (Slaveyev Mountains), and under Ottoman rule were known as the Dospatsky Mountains, after the Dospat Municipality and Dospat River.[]


Map of the Rhodopes

In geomorphological terms, the Rhodopes are part of the Rila-Rhodope massif, which is the oldest landmass on the Balkan peninsula.[3] The Rhodopes are spread over 14,735 square kilometers (5,689 sq mi), of which 12,233 square kilometers (4,723 sq mi) are on Bulgarian territory. They have the greatest extent of any single mountain range in Bulgaria. The mountains are about 240 kilometers (149 mi) long and about 100 to 120 kilometres (62 to 75 mi) wide, with an average altitude of 785 meters (2,575 ft). To the north the mountain slopes descend steeply towards the Upper Thracian Plain. To the west, the Rhodopes reach the Avram saddle, Yundola and the valley of the Mesta River. To the south and east they extend to the coastal plains of Greek Thrace. The Rhodopes are a complex system of ridges and deep river valleys.



Autumn in the Rhodopes
View from Belintash towards the village of Vrata






The river Mesta crossing the mountains



Western Rhodopes

Forests near Smolyan lakes




Eastern Rhodopes




Almost every species of the European birds of prey nest in the rocks and forests of the Eastern Rhodopes including the rare black vulture and Egyptian vulture.

Southern (Greek) Rhodopes

Kompsatos Bridge Polyanthos Rhodope
Kompsatos 17th-18th c. Bridge Polyanthos Rhodope Panorama


The Southern Rhodopes are characterized by numerous peaks of relatively low altitude. Their highest peak is Delimposka (1.953) in the mountain of Frakto, near the Greek-Bulgarian border. Nowadays the Southern Rhodopes is an area almost deserted. After World War II and the Greek Civil War most villages depopulated permanently and their inhabitants never returned. Even the Sarakatsani stockbreeders abandoned the difficult life of the Rhodopes. The depopulation of the region, that has not been grazed for more than 50 years, combined with high rainfall and its geographical location, has contributed to the creation and maintenance of a biological paradise. There grow coniferous trees, such as the Norway Spruce and the Silver Birch, that cannot be found elsewhere in Greece.

In the forest of Frakto there are 300-year-old trees, more than 50 metres high, and the endangered wild goat.

In the eastern part of the region there is the well known nature reserve of Dadia Forest, an ideal habitat for birds of prey, with 36 of the 38 species of birds of prey of Europe, like the rare Eastern imperial eagle and Lesser spotted eagle.


The remains of the ancient Thracian city and sanctuary of Perperikon



The ruins of the Ustra fortress
The church of the Asenova krepost




During the 16th and 17th centuries the Ottoman authorities began a process of Islamisation of the region.

The towns and the villages in the Western Rhodopes took active part in the April Uprising in 1876. When the uprising was crushed the Ottomans slaughtered around 5,000 people in Batak alone.[9][10][better source needed][needs update] Thousands more perished in Bratsigovo, Perushtitsa and other rebel villages which were also burnt and looted by the Ottomans.

The northern Rhodopes were ceded in 1878 to an autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia until its unification with the Principality of Bulgaria. The other part of the Rhodopes was annexed as a result of the First Balkan War (1912-1913) but after the Second Balkan War (1913) and the First World War (1914-1918) the southern slopes of the mountain was occupied by Greece and the Bulgarian population of the area was forced to flee to Bulgaria.


A church in Batak







The 15th century Devil's bridge near Ardino.




See also


  1. ^ a b Dechev, Dimitar (1925). " ? [Hemus and Rhodope]". , -? [Yearbook of Sofia University, Faculty of History and Philology] (in Bulgarian). XXI.10. Sofia: Faculty of History and Philology, Sofia University. p. 31.
  4. ^ "Rodopi Mountain Range National Park". www.fdor.gr.
  6. ^ D. C. Samsaris, Historical Geography of Western Thrace during the Roman Antiquity (in Greek), Thessaloniki 2005, pp. 15-33
  7. ^ Linear A script from the Eastern Rhodopes? (May 2005)
  8. ^ , ?. ? , ?., 1929, ?. 248
  • Evangelos A. Papathanassiou. "?he Armenian Presence in and around the Rhodope Mountain in 11th C.: Rethinking over some new archaeological Finds", ? 7 (2010-2015), 59-97.In: auth.academia.edu/EvangelosPapathanassiou

External links




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