How To Reach Us
Gela is situated 95 km southwest of Plovdiv, 30 km northwest of Smolyan and only 18 km from the ski resort Pamporovo.
We can assist you with getting by providing our shutles service from Sofia. It is an interactive, 3 hours trip on a panoramic road through the holly Rhodope mountains. The route is as follows: Sofia - Plovdiv - Assenovgrad - Bachkovo Monastery - the Wonderful Bridges - Chepelare - Pamporovo - Shiroka Luka – Gela.
Welcome to the birth place of Orpheus!
Have you heard the legend of the mythical Thracian singer Orpheus?
He played his lyre with such an inspiration that even wild beasts and trees were charmed by his music.
When you come here you will inevitably realize that it is the beauty of the nature around that inspired him.
The village of Gela is located in the Central Rhodope mountains at approximately 1500 m above the sea level just at the foot of the the most imposing peaks of the Rhodope mountains –.Grand Perelik (2191 m), Orpheus (2188 m) and Tourlata (1825 m). The village is located 6 km from Shiroka Luka, 18 km from the famous Pamporovo ski resort and 30 km from the city of Smolian.
This small village has more than 3300 years of history and is considered to be one of the cradles of the European civilization. In early antiquity Gela was inhabited by the richest members of the Thracian tribe of the Bessi. The ancient Tracian fortress “Gradishte” can be seen at 5 km South of the village. In Roman times Gela was an important cultural, trade and defense center. Mountain. Tourlata once had a fortress which remains can still be seen nowadays on the top of the peak. Pieces of the Roman roads connecting Aegean towns with the Upper Thracian Valley can be found at many places around the the village as well.
During the five centuries of Ottoman opression the local population was not affected by the mass conversion to isliam religion. The people here are proud with the fact that their small village had managed to preserve two Orthodox churches and four chapels.
The village is famous not only as a cultural reserve but also as a health center. The fresh mountain air and the unique fion wind coming from the Egean Sea are with negative ionization which make the stay in Gela exceptionally favorable especially for people with respiratory problems.
The climate in the region is considerably tempered by the southern influence. The average annual temperature is 9°C. Winters are mild and summers warm and fresh, thanks to the local mountain breezes.
Gela is one of the sunniest places in Europe with more than 280 sunny days per year. It is not coincident that the Rojhen observatory - the 5th astronomy observatory in Europe and the largest in the Balkans, is built in the region.
Despite the fact it had been inhabited for thousands of years, the region of Gela still preserves some wild places that seem to be untouched by humans. This region is a remote refuge for many exceptionally rare plants and animals. This is the only place where you can see the symbol of the Rhodopes – the Orpheus flower (Heberlea rhodopaensis). This is an unique endemic and the only one of its kind worldwide - even extracted and kept in herbarium for long time it comes to live when replanted.
The forests around Gela abound with wild fruits, briars, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and mushrooms. There is also a great diversity of herbs and healing plants.
Scattered among 7 different hamlets, the village of Gela seems to have changed little over the last few hundred years. Local people continue to maintain a traditional rural existence ploughing the fields by hand and tending their livestock on the surrounding meadows and pastures.
With only 98 inhabitants, 200 sheep, 20 cows and 10 goats at a territory of 18 km2, Gela is one of the loveliest places in the Rhodopes. The silence here is broken only by the sound of cow-bells and the music of the bagpipes.
With his healthy air, quietness and carless roads this is the best place to visit if you want to escape from the urban life for a while.
The legend of Orpheus
Orpheus was the son of Calliope and Apollo. He was the greatest musician and poet of Greek myths, whose songs could charm wild beasts and coax even rocks and trees into movement. He was one of the Argonauts, and when the Argo had to pass the island of the Sirens, it was Orpheus' music that prevented the crew from being lured to destruction.
When Orpheus' wife, Eurydice, was killed by the bite of a serpent, he went down to the underworld to bring her back. Legends say that it is the Devil's throut / 20 km. from Gela/ where Orpheus went to bring back Eurydice.
His songs were so beautiful that Hades finally agreed to allow Eurydice to return to the world of the living. However, Orpheus had to meet one condition: he had to not look back as he was conducting her to the surface. Just before the pair reached the upper world, Orpheus looked back, and Eurydice slipped back into the netherworld once again.
Orpheus was inconsolable at this second loss of his wife. He spurned the company of women and kept apart from ordinary human activities. A group of Ciconian Maenads, female devotees of Dionysus, came upon him one day as he sat singing beneath a tree. They attacked him, throwing rocks, branches, and anything else that came to hand. However, Orpheus' music was so beautiful, that it charmed even inanimate objects, and the missiles refused to strike him. Finally, the Maenads' attacked him with their own hands, and tore him to pieces. Orpheus' head floated down the river of Gela, still singing, and came to rest on the isle of Lesbos.
Attractions/Summer: Mountain Trips
For our guests we offer trips to the most famous sights in the Rhodopes.
Attractions/Summer: Hiking Trails
We offer you the following hiking trails:
Gela -Shiroka Luka - Smoljan Lakes Hut - 7 hours
Gela -Perelik peak – 5 hours
Gela-Tourlata peak – 3 hours
Gela - Orpheus peak - 3.5 hours
Gela - Lednizata Cave Hut - 1.5 hours
Gela- Tracian fortress “Gradichte” – 3 hours
Gela –Orpheus flower rock 0.2 hours
More detailed information about sites of interest you will be able to get from the Tourist Guide Book in our hotel.
Attractions/Summer in Rhodopes: Mountain bikes, motorcycling and off roads
We have mountain guides who will take you for hiking on mountain trails, which are also good for mountain bykes and boards. The steep hills around the village are an exciting challenge for those who practice motorcycling and off roars driving.
Attractions/Summer: Fishing & Nature
While you're here, why not enjoy some attractive trout fishing in the near by rivers. You can also fish carp, perch and trout in the lake of Dospat.
Attractions/Summer: Herbs, fruits and mushrooms picking
The surroundings of Gela are well known to everybody who likes to picking herbs, fruits and mushrooms.
Here you can find aromatic wild fruits - briars, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberriesand the likes. If you want to pick a multicolored bouquet of herbs and healing plants we will tell you where to find the most fragrant St.John’s wort, thyme, marjoran and wild peppermint.
The village is also famous with the abundance of the delicious mushrooms – Porcini mushrooms (Edible boletus) and Hanterelle.
Attractions/Summer: The Pipe Festival
Gela is a place to stroll around the cobbled streets or enjoy picnics in the surrounding meadows - unless you happen to be around on the first Sunday of August , when the annual bagpipe festival takes place. People from around the region and the country come for this extended family gathering to dance and listen to music in a large meadow. Further more, you will be invited to test the famous spit roast lamb, Rhodopean style, called “Cheverme”. The annual bagpipe competition feast, traditionally attract a lot of tourists.
Attractions: Winter in Rhodopes
Gela is located at 18 km from the famous Pamporovo ski resort.
It is located 1500 m above sea level in the Perelik range of the Western Rhodopes
in one of the most beautiful places of the Orpheus mountain.
Pamporovo is one of the best mountain winter resort in the country .
Our hotel offer a transport to Pamporovo and reasonable price for ski, snowboard equipment rent.