Zlatograd: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

In the heart of Zlatograd lies the Zlatograd Ethnographic Areal Complex, an open-air museum with an ethnographic museum, craft workshops and an exhibition on water technology. Those wishing to rent a holiday apartment in Zlatograd can continue their accommodation search afterwards.

Culture and History

The complex’s museum presents archaeological collections, former local occupations, traditional costumes, pieces of jewellery and ritual objects. The Education Museum displays the method of mutual teaching, as well as historical teaching objects such as sand boards, wax tablets, ink wells, maps and an abacus.

Vuntsov’s Mill contains three functioning water-powered facilities: a tucking mill for washing, a fulling mill for processing woollen fabrics and a watermill for grinding flour. Zlatograd’s architectural reserve contains more than 100 registered architectural cultural monuments. The Chalakkova House in Zlatograd’s Old Town is a tourist attraction showcasing Bulgarian life and culture from the second half of the 19th century.

The first cell school, associated with the beginning of educational work in the Rhodopes, is located in Zlatograd. Zlatograd’s Pismovnik from 1852 is the oldest written monument of the Rhodope Revival. The Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God was built in 1834 and is described as the oldest church in the Rhodopes. The Communications Museum is described as the only museum of its kind in Bulgaria and occupies 200 square metres in a restored house designated as a cultural monument within the ethnographic complex.

Nature and Trails

The Sveta-Nedelya Eco-Trail from Zlatograd is 12 kilometres long, takes around three hours, has approximately 400 metres of elevation gain and is marked with blue markings and wooden signs.

Zlatograd has three established cycling routes. Bicycles can be rented at the Tourist Information Centre in the city’s Old Town. The Zlatograd–St Atanas cycling and eco trail is 3 kilometres long, starts on Gorski Patnik Street and ends at St Atanas Peak. The cycle path to Zlatograd Reservoir is 2 kilometres long, starts on Belovidovo Street near the Roman Bridge and runs entirely along an asphalt-concrete road.

Local Cuisine

The Sveta-Nedelya Trail begins at Zlatograd’s Vodenitsa; the adjoining tavern serves local specialities, including Kachamak made from freshly ground flour, Patatnik and Klin. Zlatograd’s Old Town has cafés and restaurants where visitors can try local dishes and Zlatograd coffee brewed in sand.

More destinations for travel planning: Chepelare, Polkovnik Serafimovo, Bilyanska, Dewin, Pamporovo, Mogilitsa, Smolyan, Bosilkovo.

For the higher-level travel overview: Smolyan Province.