Clean Mountain Water and Enchanting Views Attract Tourists to the Village of Ortsevo

At an altitude of 1,555 metres above sea level lies the highest inhabited settlement in Bulgaria – the village of Ortsevo.

BNT team in Blagoevgrad travelled high into the Rhodope Mountains and met with local residents.

The village of Ortsevo is located in the western Rhodopes, on the hills around Mount Veliytsa. It is the highest permanently inhabited settlement in Bulgaria and on the Balkans, where around 130 people live dispersed across 13 hamlets. Among them is Musa.

Musa Gulit, resident of Ortsevo:
“One of the Perushinska hamlets currently has just one resident. Otherwise, each hamlet is a separate family line. In the past, each hamlet had between 20, 50 and up to 100 people.”

Ortsevo stretches 6.5 kilometres from one end to the other, and at 1,640 metres above sea level stands its highest house.

Ortsevo is one of the few settlements in Bulgaria that, despite its remote and difficult-to-access location, has managed to find ways to develop in order to avoid depopulation. The successful formula is tourism.

Saifo Orsev, Mayor of Ortsevo:
“The clean air, the views, the peace… It is quiet and calm here. People come, rest, and then leave refreshed.”

Musa Gulit, resident of Ortsevo:
“We are developing tourism and have become not only the highest village in the Balkans with a permanently resident population. The E8 hiking route passes nearby, and we have six guest houses. In recent times, we have been visited by tourists from all over Europe, North America, India, and China.”

In Ortsevo there is clean mountain water, captivating views, a recently renovated road, and several small shops offering essential goods. However, the biggest problem remains the lack of employment opportunities.

Musa Gulit, resident of Ortsevo:
“The only problem is work for young people. I have three sons who have worked in England, Germany, and Austria, and they have now settled. One is in Kraishte, another in Gorno Kraishte, and the third is in Austria. He is contributing to the economy of the West.”

Saifo Orsev, Mayor of Ortsevo:
“Young people mostly move down to the lower areas – Kraishte, Belitsa – because we are isolated. We may have everything else, but we are cut off from doctors and schools.”

Salihé is among the last pupils to attend the local school before it was closed. Although she now lives and has built her life elsewhere, she often finds time to return to her native village.

Salihé Mechkarska, born in the village of Ortsevo:
“My grandfather and grandmother are still here. My family, my parents, we all moved away, but we try to visit them. We gather, as it used to be, to remember this small hamlet that was once filled with children’s laughter, the beauty that surrounded us, and the clean air.”

For most of the elderly people who remain in the village, livestock farming is their livelihood. A source of joy in their daily lives comes when their children and grandchildren return, even briefly, and the hamlets of Orsevo are once again filled with laughter and life.