Mogilitsa ( bg, Могилица; also ''Mogilitza'', ''Mogilica'', meaning "hillock") is a village in the

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...

in southernmost

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, part of

Smolyan Smolyan ( bg, Смолян) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous Smolyan Province. The town is built ...

municipality,

Smolyan Province Smolyan Province ( bg, Област Смолян, ''Oblast Smolyan''; former name Smolyan okrug) is a province in Southern-central Bulgaria, located in the Rhodope Mountains, neighbouring Greece to the south. It is named after its administrative ...

. As of September 2005, it has a population of 483. Mogilitsa lies at , 1,041 m

above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

, near the border with

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and the upper course of the river

Arda Arda or ARDA may refer to: Places *Arda (Maritsa), a river in Bulgaria and Greece * Arda (Italy), a river in Italy *Arda (Douro), a river in Portugal * Arda, Bulgaria, a village in southern Bulgaria * Arda, County Fermanagh, a townland in County ...

, 35 kilometres southeast of Smolyan. Mogilitsa is famous for ''

Agushevi konatsi Agushevi konatsi ( bg, Агушеви конаци, "The Agush Agha's Konaks"), built during the 19th century, is a winter estate of the Ottoman feudal who belongend to the Pomaks in the Mogilitsa village in Bulgaria. It is formed of three con ...

'' (Агушеви конаци), the 19th-century winter estate of a rich Ottoman feudal lord, Agush

Agha (title) Agha ( tr, ağa; ota, آغا; fa, آقا, āghā; "chief, master, lord") is an honorific title for a civilian or officer, or often part of such title. In the Ottoman times, some court functionaries and leaders of organizations like bazaar or ...

who belongend to the

Pomaks Pomaks ( bg, Помаци, Pomatsi; el, Πομάκοι, Pomáki; tr, Pomaklar) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting northwestern Turkey, Bulgaria and northeastern Greece. The c. 220,000 strong ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is ...

, and his three son's. Built in 1825-1872 by local Bulgarian masters, the castle-like complex consists of three buildings with a separate yard surrounded by a common wall with a richly-decorated tower in the southeastern corner. The estate has a total of 221 windows, 86 doors and 24 chimneys and is situated near the banks of the Arda. Paşmaklı

was the main city of Ahiçelebi,

, until 1912 de facto independent. Northwest of the village lie the ruins of an old fortress, possibly from

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...

times. Three kilometres to the east of Mogilitsa is

Uhlovitsa Uhlovitsa () is a show cave in the Blue Pools Area (Bulgarian: Mестността „Сините вирове“, or ''Mestnostta "Sinite virove"'') in the Smolyan Province of the Rhodope Mountains, southern Bulgaria. The cave is close to Mogil ...

, one of the twenty caves in the vicinity of the village, which features water cascades and small underground lakes.

Gallery

Image:Mogilitsa IFB 1.jpg,

Image:Mogilitsa IFB 2.jpg, Agushevi konatsi Image:Mogilitsa IFB 3.jpg, Agushevi konatsi

References

* * Villages in Smolyan Province {{Smolyan-geo-stub