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The town of Chepelare (6067 inhabitants, 1100 m above sea level) is
situated in the heart of the Rhodope mountain, in a small valley,
along the two banks of Chepelarska river. It is 222 km from Sofia,
72 km from Plovdiv, 53 km from Assenovgrad, 30 km from Smolyan and
about 10 km from Pamporovo resort. Chepelare has Bulgaria's
only ski and snowboard equipment factory, which turns out some
15,000 pairs a year for domestic and international customers.
The town became famous as the birthplace of the Bulgarian Olympic
champion of the biathlon from Nagano'98n - Ekaterina Dafovska.
This is the town, situated at the highest altitude in Bulgaria. It
is a typical resort centre, mostly winter resort.
The valley has been populated since ancient times, which was proved
by different objects, considered being of Thracian origin. Some
Bulgarian Christian tombs dating back to 12 th – 14 th century were
found on the neighbouring land of the town.
In 1726 the newcomers bought the land and became owners of the
valley and the surrounding hills. So the settlement of Chepelare was
found. In 1836 the Chepelare inhabitants built the church of
St.Atanasii and 3 stone turrets within 40 days. In 1876 a second
temple “Holy Mother of God” was inaugurated. With the beginning of
the 20 th century and especially during the 30-ies and the 40-ies,
the town was turned into a resort site.
LANDMARKS:
the church St.Atanas, the church “Holy Mother of God”, museum of
Speleology and Bulgarian Karst is an unique museum not only
for Bulgaria, but also for the Balkan Peninsula and Europe.
 1.5
km south of the town, near the road to Smolyan and Pamporovo is the
bottom station of the two-chair rope lift. It is 2471 m long, its
transportation capacity is 600 persons per hour and it takes the
skiers and tourist within 17 minutes to the Chala peak (1873 m),
where the starting points of the ski runs are located.
10 km south-west of the town is one of the largest and most famous
winter resorts in the country – Pamporovo.
At a road distance of 15 km southeast of the town, high on top of
Mechi Chal peak the Rozhen Observatory is located, which is opened
for tourist visits. There is no regular transport to this place, but
one can climb up from Chepelare to the observatory within about two
and a half hours. I |