Pravdolyub () is a village in

Ardino Municipality Ardino Municipality is a municipality in Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria. It includes the town of Ardino and 51 nearby villages. Demographics As of December 2018, the municipality of Ardino has 12,792 inhabitants. Only 4,002 inhabitants live in the ...

Kardzhali Province Kardzhali Province ( bg, Област Кърджали, Oblast Kărdžali, tr, Kırcaali ili) is a province of southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece with the Greek regional units of Xanthi, Rhodope, and Evros to the south and east. It is 32 ...

, southern-central

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

. It is located southeast of

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. ...

. It covers an area of 4.436 square kilometres and as of 2007 it had a population of 204 people.

Landmarks

Located 6 kilometers west of neighboring village Dyadovtsi is the Devil's Bridge, built in the early 1500s. The bridge has not been altered for 500 years and features a hexagon carving on its central arch, known as "The Seal of Solomon." About 7 kilometers south of Pravdolyub, the Eagle Rocks area has a

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

site with a large rock that has 90 carved niches. This site dates back to between the 6th and 4th centuries B.C. and was used for rituals and burials. In the same Eagle Rocks area, roughly 500 meters from the Thracian site, are the ruins of Kaleto Fortress. This site is recognized as a protected cultural monument. North of Pravdolyub, about 24 kilometers near

Bashevo Bashevo ( bg, Башево) is a village in Ardino Municipality Ardino Municipality is a municipality in Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria. It includes the town of Ardino and 51 nearby villages. Demographics As of December 2018, the municipality of ...

, you can find Krivus Fortress. Built in the

10th century The 10th century was the period from 901 (CMI) through 1000 ( M) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the last century of the 1st millennium. In China the Song dynasty was established. The Muslim World experienced a cultural zenith, es ...

, it was used to guard the area around the Arda River. The fortress has remnants of walls up to 5 meters tall, some towers, an entrance, and the remains of an old church. Close by, on a rocky spot along the left side of the Borovica River, is the

Patmos Fortress Patmos () is a medieval fortress in the Rhodope Mountains of southern Bulgaria rising over a promontory near the confluence of the rivers Arda and Borovitsa. A few kilometers to the west upstream the valley of the Arda are located the ruins of t ...

. This fortress, also from the 10th century, has a well-preserved western wall and archaeological finds include parts of a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

and a tower.

References

Villages in Kardzhali Province {{Kardzhali-geo-stub