About Kardjali

Pictures

Eastern Rhodopes Region occupies the central southern part of the country; To the West- the Plovdiv and Smolian Region; to the North- the Haskovo and St.Zagora region and to the South- Turkey and Greece.The location of the town of Kardjali is in the heart of the region.
The area is divided into 8 territories (communities) with 7 towns and 522 villages and settlements. The biggest town is Kardjali with a population of 50? thousand people.
The transport is mainly automobile way. The international road E-85 leads through the town of Kardjali (European Transport Highway No.9 - from Rousse to Komotiny, Greece).There is transportation routes providing easy access to Sofia in the west (288 km); to Bourgas and Varna in the east (Black sea); to Rouse at the Romanian Border in the north by railway; and the Greek Port, Alexandrupolis, in the south (120 km).The rock formations around the town of Karjali (the central town of the Eastern Rhodopes) were formed thousands of years ago as a result of intense underwater volcanic activity during the Paleocene. The riolithic volcanic tuffs were later sculpted by the sun, the wind and the rains. The rocks are of different colours because they contain iron, manganese and other oxides. The bizzare shapes of the rocks have long ago provoked the imagination of the local people who told legends about them and gave them names: Skalen prozorets (Rock window), Vkamenena gora (Stone forest), Skalite na Ustra (Ustra’s rocks), Gubata (The Mushroom), Lavat (The Lion), as well as the Hladilnata peshtera (The Refrigerator cave) and 6 other caves.