ST515 Shiroka polyana - Borino

The Katrandjidere Gorge cuts sharply through the limestone above Borino, a narrow, wooded ravine where the trail follows the tumbling stream between steep rock walls and moss‑covered boulders. 

The Kemerov Bridge is a graceful Ottoman‑era stone arch spanning the Devinsky River at the confluence with the Katrandjidere stream, its single vault rising elegantly above the gorge and marking one of the most photogenic points on the stage.

The Turlatemechi Fortress occupies a forested hilltop south of Borino, a small but strategic stronghold whose earthworks and stone traces overlook the approaches to the Arda valley.

The Late Antique Roman Road Station stands beside the line of an old Roman route that once crossed this part of the Rhodopes. Its foundations mark a 5th‑century mansio—a small waystation where travellers, couriers, and military patrols could rest, change horses, and shelter for the night. Though only low walls remain, the site preserves the sense of an organised road network that once linked the mountain settlements long before Borino existed.

The Ottoman–Bulgarian Border Line (1878–1913)

The Ottoman–Bulgarian border through the Rhodopes followed a chain of natural corridors and watersheds that defined the frontier for more than three decades. To the west, the line touched the Mesta Valley, where the first minarets appear when travelling south—an early sign of the Ottoman‑held highlands. From there it ran east along the Katrandzhidere, a narrow valley dividing the Vacha basin from the Arda watershed. It continued down part of the Devinska River, then skirted the Smolyan–Smilyan valley, leaving both towns on the Ottoman side. Further east, the border followed long stretches of the Arda River, passing north of today’s Zlatograd before turning toward the Eastern Rhodopes. This hydrological frontier explains the distinct cultural profile of the southern Rhodopes, which remained Ottoman until 1912.