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Remote village pro idesunspoilt old-time atmosphere, great food by Violeta Rozova; photography by Anthony Georgieff
Rural tourism in Bulgaria was barely known years ago, butin the early s it experienced an EU-funded boom. But in thelate s the still ongoing economic crisis hit and now manyguesthouses are struggling to survive with the decreased numberof visitors. In the western fringes of the Rhodope, however, is atraditional village which is still one of the best places for ruraltourism in Bulgaria.
Leshten, close to Gotse Delchev, actually "invented" rural tourismin Bulgaria. Since the mid- s, it has been the first choice for anescape from the big city for all those interested in clean air, delicioushealthy food and genuinely and intelligently preserved architecture.
Truth to tell, Leshten is hardly a village nowadays. Only peoplelive there, and most of them are septuagenarian. In the th and thefirst half of the th centuries, however, Leshten was a bustling place,home to more than people. Unlike the inhabitants of nearbyKovachevitsa, who built three- and four-storey mini fortresses to protect their riches, the people of Leshten were poor. They had lessto lose and so they built houses of only two floors. The ground level was for the livestock, and the one above for the families.
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Kovachevitsa and Leshten both began to lose inhabitants at a greatrate after the Communist coup of , when industrialisation andforced collectivisation striped the villagers of their livelihood andforced them to seek jobs in cities. Kovachevitsa, as a much grander village, attracted the attention of Bulgarian film-makers in the s,and experienced a wave of new settlers, mostly Sofia intellectuals, who bought holiday homes there.
Leshten was rediscovered much later.In the mid- s, a couple from Sofia found themselves in the
village, with its ghostly and abandoned old houses. They fell in love with Leshten, as it had an unexpected advantage over crowd-pullingKovachevitsa. Kovachevitsa is deep in the mountains and does nothave much of a vista.
Leshten, however, has a marvellous view over the valley of theMesta River, with the blue slopes of the Pirin defining the horizon.
uite unusually for the mid- s, when everyone was eitherleaving Bulgaria or flocking to Sofia where job prospects were better,the couple moved to Leshten. They bought some of the houses andturned them into holiday lets, while preserving as much as possiblethe traditional architecture, and opened one of the best restaurantsin Bulgaria. This was in the long-disused local school, next to thebeautiful and tiny St Paraskeva Church, which dates from and iscovered inside with primitive, but captivating murals.
1 The key to your room. Eachdetail in the 200-year old Leshtenhouses has been preserved
2 , 3 The St Paraskeva Churchwas built in 1837, and has beenlisted as a local monument ofculture
4 Having breakfast while enjoyingthe view to the Mesta Valley andthe Pirin is one of Leshten's manypleasures
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The food in the tavern was locally sourced long before this becamefashionable. Almost everything on the menu comes from the area,from the wild berry juice and the thick sheeps yoghurt, to thetraditional egg noodles and the meatballs which are prepared not ofmince, but of finely chopped meat.
The restored traditional houses are on a par with the food's quality.Intelligently preserved yet having mod cons, they smell of ageing wood, geraniums and of woollen rugs warmed by the sun. The wallsare whitewashed, white linen curtains with embroidery shade the
windows, and the slightly crooked beams of the floor squeak quietlyunder your feet.Recently, however, more people decided to profit on Leshten.
More houses were turned into hotels and, as the competition grew,one night the old school caught fire and burned to the ground. Thetavern was re-established in a newer building, with a beautiful viewof the Mesta Valley. The food is still gorgeous, the best the Rhodopeand the people living in these beautiful mountains can give you.
This series of articles is supported by theAmerica for Bulgaria Foundation. Thestatements and opinions expressed hereinare those of the authors and do not necessarilyreflect the opinion of the America for BulgariaFoundation and its partners.
1 Stone was used extensively inbuilding the houses of Leshten,and even the roofs are from rock.The technique was popular inBulgaria until the beginning ofthe 20th Century, but was laterabandoned. It has been enjoyinga revival in recent years as surgeof interest in eco tourism hasbrought it back to fashion
2 Leshten is a good basefor exploring of the WesternRhodope, with traditional villageslike Kovachevitsa and Dolen, andpristine wild nature all around
3 Fresco from St ParaskevaChurch with a didactic sceneadvertising the advantages ofpious life