2-Day Razlog Valley and Melnik Tour from Sofia with Local Homestay

Razlog Valley overview:

• Razlog is located about 160 km from Sofia, and it is a valley between three mountains - Rila, Pirin, and Rodopi. This unique location gives you a great variety of cultures, traditions, landscapes, and typical food. Dobarsko is a small village not far from Razlog. The Church of Theodore Tyro and Theodore Stratelates was built in 1614 and painted in 1672. The church donors are depicted in a donors' fresco to the left of the door. The church is included in the list of the 100 national tourist attractions for its abundance of original frescoes and icons, which are interpreted as portraying Jesus in a rocket. The holy spring in the churchyard is curative and is indeed said to be the one that cured Samuil's soldiers who founded the village, as depicted in one fresco. A small swastika and a cross on the eastern wall are the only items on the exterior that show that the small stone building is a religious temple. The frescoes were cleaned up and partially restored in 1974-1978, and the church is a national monument of culture. Razlog is very close, just 10 minutes by car, to Bansko, and its old town is charming with its cobblestone streets and local tavernas. It offers a great variety of hiking trails, and it is often visited by mountain trekkers and skiers in the winter.

Melnik overview:

• Melnik is a declared architectural reserve. The first to settle in the area were the Thracian tribe Medi, and the famous rebel Spartacus belonged to this tribe. The Slavs who came later to these parts named the settlement Melnik after the sand formations surrounding it. Melnik became part of the First Bulgarian Empire under the rule of Khan Presian I (836-852) and prospered greatly during this period. Melnik became the capital of an independent feudal principality ruled by Despot Alexius Slav in 1209 and enjoyed economic and cultural prosperity. The town flourished under Tsar Ivan Assen II because of duty-free trade with Dubrovnik, then ruled by Venetians. In the late 18th century, the town had 1,300 houses, seventy churches, and 20,000 people. The city had trade connections with Venice by exporting the famous Melnik wine, which you will have the chance to taste in one of the wealthiest houses of the 19th century.