BULGARIA

Thank you soo much Svelta for  lovely card and cute stamps ..thank you for the swap .this card is Bulgarian national costumes of Rhodope Mountainan you can see also Devil's Bridge over the Arda river.And one of Bulgarian traditional musical instruments- gaida (bagpipe)

RHODOPE MOUNTAIN

The Rhodopes /ˈrɒdəpiːz/ (Bulgarian: Родопи, Rodopi; Greek: Ροδόπη, Rodopi; Turkish: Rodop) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, with over 83% of its area in southern Bulgaria and the remainder in Greece. Its highest peak, Golyam Perelik (2,191 meters (7,188 ft)), is the seventh highest Bulgarian mountain. The region is particularly notable for its karst areas with their deep river gorges, large caves and specific sculptured forms, such as the Trigrad Gorge.The location of the Rhodopes in the southeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula determines the climate in the region to a great extent. It is influenced both by the colder air coming from the north and by the warmer breeze from the Mediterranean

DEVIL'S BRIDGE

Devil’s Bridge is a term applied to dozens of ancient bridges, found primarily in Europe. Most of these bridges are stone ormasonry arch bridges and represent a significant technological achievement. Each of the Devil's Bridges has a correspondingDevil-related myth or folktale.Local lore often wrongly attributes these bridges to the Roman era, but in fact many of them are medieval, having been built between 1000 and 1600 AD. In medieval times some Roman roads were themselves considered beyond human capabilities and needs, and therefore had to have been built by the devil

THE ARDA RIVER

                                                                                                                                 The Arda (Bulgarian: Арда, Arda, Turkish: Arda, Greek: Άρδας, Árdas) is a 290-kilometre (180 mi) long river in Bulgaria and Greece. It is a tributary of the Maritsa (Greek: Έβρος, Evros). Its source lies in the Bulgarian Rhodope Mountains near the village Arda, part of the municipality of Smolyan. It flows eastward past Rudozem, Kardzhali and Ivaylovgrad and enters Greece in the northern part of the Evros regional unit. It flows into the Maritsa on the border of Greece and Turkey, between the Greek village Kastanies and the Turkish city Edirne. In the Bulgarian section there are three hydroelectric and irrigation dams, Kardzhali Dam, Studen Kladenets and Ivaylovgrad Dam. The Bulgarian section is 241 kilometres (150 mi) long, making the Arda the longest river in the Rhodopes. The medieval Dyavolski most arch bridge crosses the river 10 kilometres (6 mi) from Ardino.

GAIDA                                                                                                                                                    A gaida is a bagpipe from the Balkans and Southeast Europe. Southeastern European bagpipes known as gaida include: the Albanian gajde, Turkish tulum, Croatian and Serbian gajde, Bulgarian and Macedonian гайда/гајда (gajda) and Slovak gajdy.