My Gorna Arda

The Devil’s Bridge (in Turkish called Şeytan Köprüsü) is a mediaeval bridge on the Arda River. It is constructed over a picturesque defile, 10 kilometers Northwest of Ardino and near Dyadovtsi Village. 

The bridge is positioned 420 meters above the sea-level, surrounded by steep slopes, reaching 800 meters of height. The bridge is 56 meters long, 3.5 meters wide, with three arches. On the two side arches there are semicircle openings for water draining. The central arch is about 11.50-12 meters high, preserving a parapet of 12 meters on its rim. 

The bridge was built in the beginning of the16th century by the order of Sultan Selim the First and was meant to be a part of the road, connecting the Upper Thracian valley with the Aegean Sea. Numerous historical sources give reasons to believe that a bridge existed on that place even in the Roman period, being a part of Via Egnatia. This road connected the the Aegean Sea and Thrace through the Makaza Pass. After the orders of Sultan Selim the First the bridge was reconstructed in order to keep the trade connections between the two geographical regions. In Turkish the bridge was known as Sheitan Kyupriya (meaning the Devil’s Bridge). Master Usta Dimitar from the near village of Nedelino is pointed as the actual constructor of the bridge.  He integrated the remains of the Roman Bridge in the new construction and used local stones for the building. It is still a mystery how the construction is still intact without any renovation works. Even stranger is the fact, that the central arch of the Devil’s Bridge keeps an engraved hexagon, called by explorers ‘Solomon’s seal’. 

On February 24th, 1984 the Devil’s Bridge was declared a cultural artifact.