Perperikon

This guide complements the second step in our journey through Bulgaria: Perperikon, Rocks of worship.

How to get there. The easiest way to access the site is with a car. Coming from the North (Sofia and Plovdiv), take the road to Haskovo (Хасково) and then in the direction of Kardzhali (Кьрджали). Follow the few signs to Perperikon (Перперикон) starting a little before Haskovo. The site is around 15 km before Kardzhali. When you enter the village of Chiflik (Чифлик), make a sharp turn on the road to your right. There is a small sign to Perperikon. The map below is provided by Perperikon's official website (click on the map for a larger version). More detailed English-language maps are available online at domino.bg. You may also want to get a Map at Amazon, but make sure to buy a recent one as Perperikon will certainly not appear on road maps dating from before 2005. If you are coming from Plovdiv, expect a good two-hour drive. Add two hours if you are coming from Sofia. There is another road through Assenovgrad, which is allegedly not as scenic as the one through Haskovo.

At the time of writing bus travel to Perperikon is too cumbersome to contemplate. There are regular buses from Sofia's central bus station and from Plovdiv's new "Rhodope" bus station to Kardzhali. Train service is also available for those visitors with plenty of time (it's a 4 hour ride from Plovdiv and the journey takes close to 8 hours from Sofia with a change in Plovidv). There may be a bus service from Kardzhali to Chiflik, but it will be faster to hire a taxi.

Practical tips. Buying the map from the stand at the parking lot is a definitive must, as it helps you understand what you are seeing (there are almost no signs on the site itself, and they are all in Bulgarian). You cannot help but feel that you are among the first visitors of a major archeological site. One of our only gripes is that the information leaflet (4 leva at the time of writing) is too “scenarised”, i.e., it has absolutely no claim to scientific or intellectual value, but seems rather to have been designed for those of us who could have been tempted to go to Disneyland instead. The Perperikon internet site suffers from a similar problem, although it includes a wealth of information. A better introduction to the site can be bought for 6 leva at the visitors' "tent": Nikolai Ovcharov and Daniela Kodzjamanova, The Sacred City of Perperikon. Visitors who want to do some reading ahead of their visit may want to get a copy of Perperikon: A Civilization of the Rock People by Nikolai Ovcharov. Mr. Ovcharov led the excavation works in 2000.

Packing list. The site is large and takes a few hours to visit: good walking shoes are a must. If you go in the summer, bring a hat, sun cream and bottled water as there is little shade. Also bring a good camera.

Other sights in the area. If you stay in the area make sure to visit Kardzhali and the museum there (pictured right). The museum is housed in a very original building that was originally designed for a muslim school by a Russian architect. The result is a mix of moorish-style elements on the facade and slav elements inside, including beautiful stained glasses. Aside from the nice if somewhat kitsch ethnographic exhibits, it has many artifacts found in the region, most of which date from the Thracian, Roman and Ottoman periods. Kardzhali itself is worth a visit, in particular to its old Turkish quarter (the city was among the last ones to fall in the Bulgarian war of independence from Turkey in the early 20th century). The region also hosts interesting volcanic rock formations and a nature reserve appreciated by bird watchers (the Madzharovo reserve).

Don't miss our Perperikon pictures.