In the canyon of the Cherni
Lom River, which winds its meanders among steep cliffs and fertile fields, is
the smallest village in the Ruse Region. There is no coverage of any of the
mobile operators, there is no urban noise, and there are not even people for a
polling station. The great lord there is nature.
There are three legends about the name of the village of Pepelina. One is
romantic, the other is pragmatic and the third is a little scary. According to
a beautiful story, there was a girl named Pepelina, who was amazingly beautiful
and, in order not to be stolen by the Turks during the Ottoman yoke, her father
locked her in a square hole, high in the rocks but they found her, and she
jumped off a sheer cliff. The village was named after her. The second is
associated with the ash that raised the coal mined for the blacksmiths in the
neighboring village of Cherven. The third, slightly terrifying but credible
legend, is that there are many viper snakes in the area that gave the village
its name. There is certainly truth in each of the stories but what we can see
and experience in Pepelina today is the incredible blend of sports and history.
The smallest village is actually a great start for several tourist routes –
familiar and unfamiliar. Tourists visiting the area have the opportunity to
choose, which direction to go and how difficult their transition is. Two of the
routes are circular – depart from one place and return there, and the other two
– with a transition.