Presentation

The hotel is located in the centre of the Rhodopi mountain town of Chepelare. It is located 230 km from the capital Sofia, 80 km south of Plovdiv, 10 km away from Pamporovo resort compound, and 1 km away from the Mechi Chal ski centre of Chepelare. It is the first 4-star hotel in the town. Rhodopi home welcomed its first visitors in May 2006. The complex operates year-round, which makes it a suitable place both for winter sports fans and for a place to relax, hold business events, seminars and meetings. Free parking is provided to the hotel visitors.

The Rhodopi home holiday complex has 29 double rooms, 19 two-bedroom and 3 three-bedroom suites. The double rooms offer a mini bar, satellite TV and a bathroom with a bathtub. The rooms and the suites have central heating and a fire alarm system. The suites have a fully furnished kitchen area, a living room with a fireplace, bedroom, telephone, TV set, mini bar, and a bathroom with a bathtub.

Rhodopi home has a restaurant, a lobby bar, a night club, an indoor swimming pool, a gym and a spa centre. It also provides an opportunity for mountain tours. The hotel is suitable for preseason camps as it has a football pitch. For conference events the complex offers a conference room for 50 people and an option to provide technical equipment. Package prices are stipulated for the events.

Gallery

Area

Chepelare is a small resort town with some 6 000 residents, it is located in the bosom of the Rhodopi mountain, on the two shores of the Chepelarska river. Chepelare is the highest altitude town in Bulgarian being located at 1100 meters. During recent years it was recognized as one of the leading ski-resort centres in Bulgaria. It is 9 km and 20 km to north of Pamporovo and Smolyan, respectively, as well as 245 km away from the capital Sofia. The town is surrounded on all sides by beautiful spruce and pine forests, and lawns. Chepelarska river bisects the town collecting the rivers of the Yanchova, Kamburska, and Sivkoska rivers. The Rhodopi’s main road artery – the Plovdiv-Smolyan road – passes through the town.

The only ski and snowboard equipment factory on the Balkans – of Orion – operates in the town. The company manufactures high-grade skis and snowboards with the Orion brand and sells this in Western Europe and Japan. The ski factory in Chepelare manufacture Atomic skis and ski shoes under a license agreement with the Atomic company. Orion has a company store next to the factory, where all of its products, as well as ski and snowboard equipment of other well-known companies may be bought.

Chepelare is mostly known as a winter resort. The clean environment, the mountainous relief, and the long winter are all excellent premises for the development of ski tourism.

The town has a long-standing tradition in winter sports and virtually all Bulgarian winter sports national teams feature representatives from the town of Chepelare. Beyond any doubt, the finest hour of both Chepelare and Bulgaria occurred on February 9, 1998 in Nagano, Japan during the Winter Olympics. The Chepelare-born biathlete Ekaterina Dafovska categorically won the title in the 15 km race.

Chepelare is also attractive for tourists in summertime. It is a very convenient starting point for tourist marches through the Western Rhodopi mountaints – Rozhen, Haydushki Polyani, Krastova Gora, Pamporovo, Shiroka Laka, Chudnite Mostove, etc.

At the end of the town, in the direction of Pamporovo, the ski-trek Mechi Chal is situated, featuring a rope, two-seat line with a capacity of 800 persons per hour. The trek is nearly 6 km long – the longest ski Alpine trek in Bulgaria. Atop the plateau of the lift’s final station – near the Mechi Chal peak (1873 m) mini ski-ropes have been mounted, suitable for beginning skiers and snowboarders.

1.5 km south of the town, near the road to Smolyan and Pamporovo, the first stop of a two-seat lift is located. The lift is 2471 m long and has a transporting capacity of 600 persons per hour. It takes 17 minutes by lift to reach the Chala peak (1873 m), the starting point for the ski trek

Pamporovo, one of the largest and best known winter resorts in the country is located 10 km southwest of the town.

The Rozhen Obervatory, which is open for visits, is located 15 km southeast of the town. There is no scheduled transport going there but you could climb from Chepelare to the observatory in about 2 hours and a half.

Sights

• St. Athanasios Church – 5a General Cherevin St.

• Virgin Mary’s Church – Chaya St., telephone 03051 3420

• Museum of Speleology and Bulgarian Karst – 9A Shina Andreeva St., telephone 03051 3041, opening hours: 9-12 and 13.30-17.30, off-day on Monday. The museum is unique in its kind not only in the country but on the Balkans and Europe as well.

• As of late, a Ski Sports Museum started operating depicting the rich history of winter sports in the area.

• Rhodopska Iskra culture house 21 Vassil Dechev St., telephone 03051 2029.

• Chepelare also features Bulgaria’s only Cave Museum. It exhibits documents, photos, and rock formations of the Rhodopi karst. It is a genuine sanctuary for dedicated spelunkers.

History

That the valley was inhabited back in ancient times is evidenced by the artefacts of Thracian origin found. Tombs of Bulgarian Christians from the 12th-14th century were discovered in the outskirts of the town.

In the past people were mainly occupied in stock-breeding. In summertime the herds would graze in the pastures around Chepelare and in winter the shepherds would take herd them on to the Thracian Sea. After the unification of the Principality of Bulgaria with Eastern Rumelia the border with Turkey was shut out. It was impossible to reach the Thracian Sea, which forced the Chepelare locals to slaughter much of their cattle and encroach on the forest in order to secure pastures for their remaining animals. During the period of 1879-1886 more 30 000 decares of conifer woods were destroyed than in the vicinity of Chepelare. It is the largest destruction of forest in the history of the Rhodopes.

Chepelare was founded in 1726 when the newcomers to this territory bought the land and became owners of the valley and the surroundings.

In 1836 the Chepelare residents built the St. Athanasios Church and three stone towers in just 40 days. In 1876 the Virgin Mary’s Church was erected.

In early 20th century but mostly in the 1930’s and 1940’s the town developed as a resort settlement.

Transportation

You can only reach Chepelare by bus. There are scheduled lines to Plovdiv, Asenovgrad, Sofia, Smolyan, Pamporovo, Devin, Shiroka Laka, and other smaller settlements