History of the Spring

The Age of the Thracians

The lifestyle on the beautiful and fertile shore of the Asenitsa (Chaya) River is one of the main reasons the area has been settled since far-off antiquity. Numerous archaeological finds dating back to the Stone Age show that the neighbourhood had been inhabited even in Antiquity. The Thracian civilization dates back to the second millennium BC. It is thought that the Thracian tribe of the Bessi and the related Trausi inhabited those lands. Depending on the geographical location, the population practised stockbreeding, metalworking and agriculture. Many strongholds, settlements, necropolises and sanctuaries have been discovered. Many finds of different tools and objects from the Thracians’ everyday life and vestiges of burials testifying to their lifestyle, religion and culture have been found. The Thracian horseman was considered a patron of viticulture, the herds and the crops, as well as a healer god – in short, a universal Thracian god.

As a consequence of many discords between the Thracian kings, in AD 46 the Roman Emperor Claudius definitively occupied Thrace and the Rhodope Mountains, turning them into a Roman province. In the IV and V centuries Goths, Avars, Huns and many others invaded our lands, and only a few decades later and until the end of the VIII century the Slavs arrived from the north. In this way the Thracian element was lost amongst the multitude of Slavs who settled the Rhodope Mountains. The authorities in Byzantium, disturbed by the numerous Slav migrations, decided to erect a system of strongholds along that border area, aimed at restricting the Slav tribes’ access to Aegean Thrace through the Rhodope Mountains. The stronghold near Dolni Voden and Asen’s Fortress date from exactly that period, the V century. In many places vestiges of Roman roads connecting the cities along the Aegean Sea with the Upper Thracian Plain can still be seen. It is not by accident that the area is full of picturesque beauty and beneficial strength with a magnetic attraction. Many natural landmarks and rock phenomena are located nearby.

The famous rock massif of Belintash is surrounded by mysteries and legends which remain unsolved even today. Located on a picturesque rocky peak rising 1225 m above sea level, Belintash is an ancient Thracian sanctuary with nothing comparable in our lands. The sanctuary itself is located on the top. There is a never-ending spring at the foot of the rock, and close to it a silver votive plaque of the Thracian deity Sabazios, god of fertility according to the ancient Thracian cult, has been found.

Bachkovo Monastery

Located in the foothills of the Rhodope Mountains at 400 m above sea level, the village of Bachkovo is 9 km south of the town of Asenovgrad, stretching picturesquely along the gorge of the Asenitsa (Chaya) River. The village of Bachkovo was founded in 1062 and its name comes from the “bach” tax (a road tax), which had to be paid to travel along the road to Smolyan. Many ancient Christian religious centres, among them Krastova Gora, are located in the vicinity of Bachkovo.

Half a kilometre from the village lies the Bachkovo Monastery, the second largest in Bulgaria and one of the oldest monasteries on the Balkan Peninsula. It was founded in 1083 by two brothers from Georgia, Gregory and Abasius Bakuriani. Like most Bulgarian monasteries, it was looted and destroyed several times. The restoration of the holy monastery started at the end of the XVI century, and the Church of the Holy Virgin was built in 1604. To this day the church keeps one of the oldest gilded woodcarved iconostases in the country and the wonder-working icon of the Holy Virgin Tenderness (Eleusa) – one of the monastery’s greatest treasures. Made by unknown masters, the icon still cannot be dated exactly because it is entirely covered by a silver revetment; only the inscription “1311” gives us an idea of the approximate year it was made.

After the fall of Tarnovo in 1393, Patriarch Evtimiy was driven out and exiled to the Bachkovo Monastery. Exarch Stefan and Patriarch Kiril, the first Bulgarian Patriarch after Saint Evtimiy of Tarnovo, are buried here. In this way the monastery became the only resting place of the Bulgarian patriarchs and a symbol of the continuity of the Bulgarian spirit. The monastery garden is worth seeing: rare species such as ginger, persimmon, magnolia, Chinese pine and laurel grow there.

“Red Wall” Nature Reserve

The spring from which Bachkovo spring water is drawn is located next to the largest of the four biosphere reserves in the Rhodope Mountains – the Red Wall. The reserve lies south of Asenovgrad in the valley of the Asenitsa (Chaya) River and along the Dobrostan ridge, close to the Bachkovo Monastery. The highest waterfall in the Rhodope Mountains, Slivovdolskoto Padalo, is here. The water falls from a height of 50 metres, and along its way the river has shaped many small cascades and amazing rock forms in the soft limestone. The water is so pure and clear that you feel you could see your reflection in it. Another waterfall is the Bachkovo Waterfall, formed by a karst fault with numerous branches and forks.

As many as 645 species of higher plants have been recorded in the reserve, 38 of which are listed in the Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Among them are the Rhodope tulip and many other endemic species. The nature reserve gives shelter to a great variety of animals.

Exceptional vegetation

The area where the natural Bachkovo spring is located is rich in exceptional plant species. The most famous of them is the Rhodope silivryak (Haberlea rhodopensis), first documented and named in the Rhodope Mountains along the Asenitsa (Chaya) River near Bachkovo in 1834. The silivryak is also known as the Orpheus flower. What is interesting about this flower is that it resembles the mythical Phoenix: it has been established that it can survive more than 30 months without a drop of water and, once moistened, starts to develop normally again. The flower enters a state of anabiosis (suspended animation).

Gonda Voda was declared a historical site in 1970 and in 2003 it was re-categorised as a protected area in order to safeguard the centuries-old black pine forest on the land of Bachkovo village. The Lale Bair area has been declared a natural landmark in order to protect the natural habitat of a Bulgarian endemic and protected plant, the Rhodope tulip. A protected area was also established in 2003 near Bachkovo village to protect the natural habitat of the tree-like juniper, an extraordinary plant species. The area is home to many other rare and protected plants, such as Sempervivum erythraeum, Adiantum capillus-veneris, Ruscus aculeatus, Pistacia and many others.

Natura 2000

The pan-European ecological network Natura 2000 is the largest European initiative for protecting the wealth of nature and encouraging sustainable development in areas with preserved nature. The establishment of this network of protected natural areas is governed by European legislation and is mandatory.

Natura 2000 was created to apply common rules for nature conservation in the European Union. It is based on two EU legal acts: the Birds Directive of 1979 and the Habitats Directive of 1992. The programme does not require human activities to stop. The idea is that its measures, including financial support, encourage economic activity that spares nature and at the same time contributes to the development of less developed areas and opens new opportunities for them. The aim is to guarantee, in the future, a sustainable ecological, economic and social management of areas of universal importance because of their exceptional natural wealth. The protected areas of European importance make up the Natura 2000 ecological network. They are much larger than the protected territories and do not prohibit all human activities. On the contrary, their aim is to preserve nature as a resource for the sustainable development of the areas within these zones.