About 13km from Svilengrad, near the Bulgarian border with Greece, lies Mezek village. Besides the wine, the village turns out to be known for one of the best preserved medieval fortresses and a magnificent domed Thracian tomb, built in the fourth century BC.
To see them, we start at dawn, sipping large cups of hot coffee on the royal road to Svilengrad. We meet the sunrise and very soon we find ourselves amid the fertile plains of the Haskovo region. Warmth, green meadows and storks circling in the sky are our only companions. After a few hours the road will be filled with trucks, buses and late tourists, but in the early morning all is peaceful.
Svilengrad surprises us with a nice main street, pleasant-looking family hotels – and no direction signs. To find our hotel and the way to Mezek we have to ask around repeatedly and get to know the town quickly. We memorise our main starting points: the Ali Baba nightclub near our hotel, and the old bridge over lazy Maritsa. We cross the bridge on our way to Mezek. Outside the town, as if on purpose, there are signs every five metres, it seems. The village greets us with a crossroads and two alternatives – to the fortress or the tomb. With almost no hesitation we decide to see the fortress first.
We follow the signs on a well-paved road, which winds above the village and enters the northeastern slopes of the Rhodope mountain. We are surrounded by leafing beech trees and thick carpets of blooming thyme. Turn after turn and still no fortress on the horizon. Our jokes that we’re already in Greece start to look less like jokes and more like fact, so we decide to go back.
This time we are more careful; after one of the many turns we see a wide unkempt road on the left and ruins in the distance. The fortress is even more imposing than we imagined: it is square, spanning almost a hectare, with huge cylindrical defence turrets along the length of the walls.
Until 1900, the fortress was even better preserved, with embrasures and platforms which the Turkish authorities destroyed to make a barracks in Svilengrad. In the inner yard, we come across a builders’ team, making alleys from fine white sand and wooden stairs, still smelling of fresh paint.
We go around the wall and almost immediately encounter some of the permanent residents, hissing and wriggling – thank God harmless – grass-snakes. We also see fascinating butterflies, the Night Peacock Eye, the size of a hand and amenable enough to be photographed. In the middle of the yard there are a few huge almond trees whose shade we use to hide from the scorching sun.
To see the tomb we go back to the village, from where, according to a rusty sign, there is a kilometre to our destination. It turns out there IS a tomb – huge antiquated boards and yellowing monochrome pictures tell about one of the biggest archaeological discoveries in the area – a domed Thracian tomb built in the fourth century BC.
We get to an iron gate protecting the entrance to the tomb and encounter a padlock. A bit disappointed, we decide to ask around in the village. And there we get the biggest surprise.
"The mayor has the key to the padlock, but since she’s not here now, I’ll give it to you. The fee is 50 stotinki per person," says the shopkeeper of the only store in Mezek.
Amazed, clutching our tickets, we go back and unlock the gates. The feeling is fascinating. We find ourselves in a narrow corridor, built from huge stone slabs, under a triangular dome. It leads us into two consecutive antechambers and a main chamber containing a stone bed and urns. Everything is perfectly preserved and untouched. We carefully lock the iron gates and tell the next tourists where they should pay their entrance fee.
"Yes, yes, there's a shop in the centre of the village, the lady there will give you tickets."
They shake their heads and look at us in disbelief.
Source: The Sofia Echo [August 06, 2010]