Gela

Gela village is located at the foot of the most magnificent mountain peaks in the Rhodopi mountain - Goliam Perelik, Orpheus peak and peak Turlata, as the village is 18 kilometers away from Pamporovo and 30 kilometers away from Smolian town. It is situated in the heart of the mountain and the population of this small village is 98 inhabitants. This village has century-old history and has preserved beautiful legends.
Legends say that this village was the birth-place of Orpheus. The name of the mythical ancient Thracian singer Orpheus is associated with many legends - his name is associated with the cave Diavolsko gurlo and with the lands around Gela village.

The nearby mountain peak and a unique flower, which can be seen only here, were named after him. Gela village was founded more than 3300 years ago. It is considered to be one of the cradles of European civilization and it has been inhabited since ancient times by the rich members of the Thracian tribe Besi. You can see and visit the ancient Thracian fortress “Gradishte” as it is only 5 kilometers away from the village. During Roman times, Gela village was an important cultural, commercial and defensive center. The mountain peak Turlata was a fortress, whose remains you can see even nowadays from the mountain top. There are ancient Roman roads everywhere around the village, as they connected the Aegean cities with the Upper Thracian Plain. During Ottoman rule, the local population was not forced to change its religion. That’s why people here have two Orthodox churches and four chapels. The people in Gela village could preserve their way of life and traditions over the years-even nowadays they cultivate land manually and keep domestic animals, which animals graze freely on the green meadows around the village.

The climate in Gela village is exceptionally pleasant for a holiday or just a walk.
The average annual temperature is 9 degrees Celsius, the winter is mild and the summer is cool due to the fresh mountain breeze.
The location of this village is one of the sunniest in the whole of Europe-here the sun shines at least 280 days per year. This is one of the reasons for the construction of Rojen observatory in this region - it is the fifth biggest astronomical observatory in Europe and the biggest one in the Balkans.

The National Bagpipe Festival: Every summer the village hosts a National Bagpipe Festival. The Rhodopi mountain is famous worldwide for being a unique center of bagpipers and of bagpipe music and bagpipers can demonstrate and prove their music skills to everyone, who has come to enjoy the magic sound of a bagpipe. The bagpipe festival attracts every year hundreds of fans of Bulgarian folk music and also tourists and professionals. If you come to Gela music, please, do not miss this event, as it will fill with you energy and love for music, for the Rhodopi mountain and for nature.

Photos from Gela