The Marvelous Bridges or Wonderful Bridges (, ''Chudni emostove'') are

natural arch A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, Cliffed coast, coastal cliffs, Fin (geology), fins or Stack ...

es in the

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak ...

of southern

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. They are located in the

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

valley of the Erkyupriya River in the Western Rhodopes at metres above sea level, at the foot of Persenk Peak.

Description

The "bridges" were formed by the erosive activity of the once larger Erkyupryia River. It transformed the

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

clefts into a deep-water

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

, the ceiling of which eroded through time and collapsed, possibly during an earthquake.

Geologists A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the field and the laboratory. Geolog ...

suggest that the water carried the debris away. As a result, the two remaining bridge-shaped outcrops remained. The larger one (upstream) is 15 metres at its widest and 96 metres long, and shaped by three vaulted arches, the largest of which is 45 metres high and 40 metres wide. The river flows under the middle-sized arch. The larger Wonderful Bridge is passable under the vaults, where birds nest in the marble clefts. The smaller bridge is 200 metres downstream. It is impassable to tourists, 60 metres in length, with a total height of 50 metres, 30 metres at the highest point of the arch. A third, small and inaccessible, formation follows, the entrance to a

pothole A pothole is a pot-shaped depression in a road surface, usually asphalt pavement, where traffic has removed broken pieces of the pavement. It is usually the result of water in the underlying soil structure and traffic passing over the affecte ...

where the river's waters disappear underground, reaching a

sump Sump may refer to: * An infiltration basin used to manage surface runoff water and recharge underground aquifers * Sump (cave), a permanently flooded section of a cave, where an underground flow of water exits the cave into the earth such that t ...

after 3 km. The adjacent area is wooded, with century-old

conifers Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

, mainly spruces. Many karst caves are known nearby, but most of them are undeveloped and unsuitable for tourist visits. However, both bridges can be crossed on secure trails. Two tourist huts are located nearby. The site can be reached by an asphalt road and is about 30 km from the closest town,

Chepelare Chepelare ( ) is the principal town in Chepelare Municipality, part of Smolyan Province in Southern Bulgaria. It is situated in the central part of the Rhodopes, on the banks of Chepelare River. Chepelare is a popular winter resort with one o ...

. The Wonderful Bridges are included among the 100 National Touristic Places of the Bulgarian Touristic Union, under number 85.

Gallery

Image:Wonderful-bridges-large1.jpg, The larger bridge as seen from the smaller Image:Wonderful-bridges-large2.jpg, The larger bridge as seen from below Image:Wonderful-bridges-small.jpg, The smaller bridge as seen from the larger Image:Wonderful-bridges-river.jpg, The Erkyupriya River flowing under the large bridge

External links

Marvelous Bridges - official website
{{coord, 41.819, 24.581, region:BG_type:landmark, display=title Rock formations of Bulgaria Landforms of Smolyan Province Rhodope Mountains Tourist attractions in Smolyan Province Natural arches