By Rachel Gawith

The fascinating remains of what many now believe to be the Temple of Dionysus, are perched high on a hill top in the Eastern Rhodope mountain range, around 15 kilometres or so from the town of Kardzhali. Currently the archaeological remains are still a work in progress and you approach the gravel car park up a dirt track. When visited in October 2005, it was free to walk around the ruins, but a charge of a few Lev was to be shortly introduced.Â

From the car park it is a steep scramble up a rough stony track that winds its way around the side of the hill until you reach the base of the ˜temple road’. This in itself is a magnificent insight into just what was achieved here. The ˜road’ is actually a passageway carved out of the rock. It climbs steeply up towards one of the main entrances to the temple some 200 feet or so higher up. Huge steps have been carved out of the base of the passageway to make the climb easier to negotiate as you make your way up, hemmed in by walls of stone rising over 20 feet on each side of you. The passageway ends at the fortress wall surrounding most of the temple on the top of the hill. You are then free to scramble around the remains of the temple and the palace, exploring the many rooms and chambers that once formed one of the most important places of worship and rule in the area. Â
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