Shiroka Laka ( ) is a village in the very south of

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 ...

, located in

Smolyan Smolyan () is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the Smolyan Province. The town is built along the narrow valley of t ...

municipality,

Smolyan Province Smolyan Province (, ''Oblast Smolyan''; former name Smolyan okrug) is a province in Southern-central Bulgaria, located in the Rhodope Mountains, neighbouring Greece to the south. It is named after its administrative and industrial centre — the ...

. It is a proclaimed architectural and folklore reserve and lies in the central

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 ...

, 23 km (14 mi) northwest of Smolyan, 16 km (10 mi) west of

Pamporovo Pamporovo (, ''pronunciation'': /pam'porovo/) is a popular ski resort in Smolyan Province, southern Bulgaria. It is set amongst Norway spruce forests and is primarily visited during the winter for skiing and snowboarding. It is also a popular t ...

and 22 km (14 mi) southeast of Devin. The dominant and traditional religion in the village is

Eastern Orthodox Christianity Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

and the population is 573 (). Shiroka Laka lies at 1,206 m (3,957 ft) above sea level, at .

Architecture

Shiroka Laka is famous for its authentic Rhodopean houses set in tiers on both banks of the local river. The old houses were designed in the characteristic architectural style of the Rhodopes by the noted local building masters, and feature two storeys,

oriels An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window generally projects from an upper floor, but is als ...

, built-in cupboards and a small cellar with a hiding place. The thick white walls hide the yard from the outsiders' eyes. The yard is small and slab-covered and has a typical stone drinking fountain in the middle. Some of the most famous houses are those of the Zgurov, Uchikov and Grigorov families. The local Church of the Holy Mother of God was constructed in 1834 for 38 days according to the legend. It boasts an authentic

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

, possibly painted by apprentices of the brothers Dimitar and

Zahari Zograf Zahariy Hristovich Dimitrov () (1810–1853), better known as Zahari Zograf (or Zahariy Zograf; Захари(й) Зограф) is a famous Bulgarian painter of the Bulgarian National Revival, noted for his church mural paintings and depictions o ...

from

Samokov Samokov ( ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in Samokov Valley between the mountain ranges of Rila, Vitosha and Sredna Gora, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia. Due ...

, or even by the brothers themselves. The old school, built in 1835, is located near the church. There is one more church in the village, the Church of St Nicholas.

Culture

Shiroka Laka is known not only for its old Bulgarian architecture, but also for its singing tradition and the ''

kaba gaida The kaba gaida ('large gaida'Timothy Rice, "Evaluating Artistry on the Bulgarian Bagpipe", in ''Ethnomusicological Encounters with Music and Musicians'', 2011 , p. 112) or rodopska gaida (Rhodope gaida), is the bagpipe of the central Rhodope mou ...

'', a local type of

bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

. Some of the most prominent singers of Rodopi music come from the village, including the Kushlevi Sisters, and many of the local families are well familiar with the style. A secondary school for folklore songs and instruments was founded in 1972. Among its graduates are Neli Andreeva, soloist and singer with the Philip Kutev Folklore Ensemble, and composer Georgi Andreev. On the first Sunday of March, the village also hosts one of the best known

kukeri Kukeri (; singular: kuker, кукер) are elaborately costumed Bulgarian men, who perform traditional rituals intended to scare away evil spirits. Closely related traditions are found throughout the Balkans and Greece (including Romania and t ...

(specific Bulgarian type of carnival) celebrations in the country, ''Pesponedelnik'' as it is called. On that day, people dressed as folklore monsters, carrying wooden swords and painted red, dance around the village to drive the evil spirits out of the homes and the peoples' souls. Their costumes are decorated with bulbs of garlic, beans and peppers and they wear a belt with characteristic Rhodope bells attached to it.

External links

Shiroka Laka Information Centre

Shiroka Laka at Journey.bg

Nikola Gruev's photo gallery of Shiroka Laka
* {{Smolyan Villages in Smolyan Province