The present landscape throughout this part of the country is very different from that of a few centuries ago. The relief of the region has remained unchanged throughout the past ten millennia, but the other elements of the surrounding scenery suffered significant changes. The first major difference in comparison with the past is that, during antiquity, the region was covered with centuries-old forests. According to some documents from the 17th Century, not only the mountains were covered with thick forests, but also the river valleys. The settlements and the cultivated agricultural lands were tiny islands among the surrounding forests. The clearing of the forests started after the 18th Century, when the population growth in that region forced the people to search for new lands to cultivate. Parallel with that, timber from the region was being transported with rafts over the Maritza River to meet the necessities of the towns of Edirne and Tsarigrad. The rivers in the past were much deeper because of the existence of huge forests, as well as some less significant differences in the climate of the region.

The region was inhabited from antiquity due to the mild climate, the favorable conditions for agriculture and stock-breeding, the existence of rich ore deposits and the deep rivers.

The earliest traces showing the existence of human inhabitation of this region date back to the Stone and Copper Ages. There are no preserved cultural monuments in the region from that period, nor from the Bronze Epoch that followed. The earliest cultural monuments in the region date back to the Early Stone Age (12th-6th Centuries BC). Very interesting for cultural tourism are the Thracian megalith monuments. The name “megalith” means “huge stones” – built of massive stone blocks. In fact, the actual megalith monuments in Thrace are the dolmens and the cromlechs. Other monuments, such as rocky niches, tombs, basins, etc., are also added by analogy in territorial, as well as chronological and cultural, meaning to this group. Often the monuments could be found combined into huge cult complexes, such as those next to the town of Madjarovo, the villages Malko Gradishte, Valche Pole, Senoklas, etc. Usually the megaliths are situated in beautiful regions on top of ridges and rocky missives, revealing beautiful views and picturesque panoramas.
The latest studies show that some of the dolmens were built during the Late Iron Age. Others were built during the Early Iron Age. Typically, these were used repeatedly for burials even during the period of the Roman reign in Thrace.
The tribal nationality of the builders of the megalith monuments is not emphatically proven. There are certain reasons to claim that the region of their propagation – the Eastern Rhodopes, Sakar and Strandja Mountains – coincided with the territory of the Thracian tribe Odrisi. Archaeological data is scarce for the way of living of the Thracian population from the Early Iron Age. It is clear, however, that during that period a developed settlement system existed, made up of small unprotected villages, as well as well-fortified castles built mainly on naturally-protected heights.
The basic way of living of the region’s population during this period was agriculture and stock-breeding. Additional economic activities were hunting, fishing, apiculture and the like. An important role in the economic activities of the local population was ore-mining. The economic prosperity of the region was due to the ore, not only in the antiquity, but also during the following epochs.
The next period of the development of ancient Thrace – the Late Iron Age covers the period between the end of the 6th Century BC and the beginning of the 1st Century BC. This was a period of “opening” for the Thracian lands towards the surrounding world. Public relations were improved; the settlement system developed and new technical decisions were implemented. Some of these changes came as a result of internal processes and natural development of the achievements of the preceding Early Iron Epoch. The others came as a result of the penetration of different cultural influences: Hellenic, Macedonian, Scythian, Roman, etc. Cultural exchange with the surrounding world came, to a certain extent, as a result of the location of Hellenic and Celtic influences.

The first towns in ancient Thrace sprang up during that period. The Hellenic influence could be found in them, but the inclusion of the ruler’s residence in the town’s plan demonstrates the specifics of the local Thracian culture.
The foundation and development of the town centers were conditioned to a certain extent by the powerful states springing up in the Thracian lands. The Thracian towns were different from the Hellenic in their strong centralized authorities and, impressive for its time, the envelopment of territory. The Thracian kingdoms were active on the political scene of the antique world and played a decisive role after the 5th Century BC.
The territories of Ivailovgrad, Madjarovo and Ljubimetz municipalities were part of the Odris kingdom practically from its founding. An eloquent fact of the power and might of the Odris Kingdom is that, according to one assessment, the wealth of the kingdom’s treasury during the rule of Sevt I (424-407 BC) amounted to 1,000 talanta, or 260,000kg of coins and metal products! Significant for the military might of the Odris kingdom was the number of its army sent by Sitalk, the predecessor of Sevt I, to conquer east Macedonia and the Halcidic peninsula during the Peloponnesian Wars. Ancient chronologists reported that its army numbered 150,000 warriors!
The Roman expansion on the Balkan Peninsula started between 320 and 329 BC. The first territories conquered were those of the Thracian tribe Iliri, situated at the western part of the Balkan Peninsula. The borders of the Roman Empire reached Epir. The Romans utterly routed the Macedonian state in three consecutive wars. After the conquest, the Macedonian state was divided in four regions and declared as a Roman province (168-148 BC).
The military campaign towards the Thracian kingdoms started at the end of the Second Century BC and continued for two-and-a-half centuries. A Roman province named Mizia was declared in 15 AD. The borders of its territory were the Sava River to the west, the Black Sea coast to the east, the Danube River to the north and the southern parts of Stara Planina Mountain to the south.
Vassal states continued to exist south of that mountain for thirty years more. In 45 AD, the last Thracian ruler - Remetalk the Third - was killed after a palace coup and the lands south of the mountain were declared as a Roman province, also called Thrace. These acts of the Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) put an end to the former Thracian states.
The Roman authorities carried out activities on a large scale for the socialization of the conquered lands. The Romans, though, wisely preserved the established traditional organization in the villages of Thrace. The Roman authorities preserved also the ownership of the Thracian aristocrats. They were economically independent and gained even more political and administrative power as Roman Strategists (regional governors – posts inherited from the Hellenic State). The status quo of the local aristocracy was preserved up to the beginning of Second Century, when the Roman reign in Thrace and Mizia was finally stabilized. In the end, the clever “liberalness” of the Roman authorities ensured stability and agricultural production, which was profitable for the Empire.

After the conquest and the transformation of Dakia into a Roman province (107 AD) during the reign of Emperor Trajan, Thrace and Lower Mizia became inner provinces for the Empire. The remoteness of those provinces from the borders of the Empire was one factor for comparatively tranquil living, undisturbed by huge war conflicts. The reign of the dynasties of the Antonins and the Severs became a period of flourishing development of the Thracian lands and lasted for 130 years.

A number of settlements were transformed into towns, and new ones were built. Road-building was implemented on a large scale. The old roads were paved with solid stone blocks. New roads were also built and complemented the transport system of these provinces. Road stations for travelers to rest and to change horses were built along them. The building of roads aimed to make easier the transport of goods and armies, as well as to facilitate communications and cultural exchange between the nations within the empire.

These circumstances effectively led to the equalization of the Thracian lands to the standards of the Roman Empire. The first European civilization was beginning to form.
Christianity was pronounced the official religion within the borders of the Roman Empire in 324 AD. The transition of the people’s beliefs to the new Christian cult was partly facilitated by the widespread cult of the Thracian Horseman. This form of the Orphic doctrine was original pagan monotheism. For this reason, the transition and acceptance of Christianity by the local population was done in relatively short period of time. By no accident, the Thracian population was wordily extolled by the church chroniclers for their humility and their quick unification with the new cult. Also by no coincidence, one of the first translations of the Bible was done in the language of the Thracian tribe Besi, the most dedicated followers of the cult of Dionysus in the Rhodopes.

The thesis for the early dissemination of Christianity throughout the region is supported by the Early-Christian temples discovered. A distinctive characteristic of the Early-Christian temples was the existence of baptisterium (place for baptizing). These premises were detached from the temple and had a reservoir built in which new Christians were baptized. As time past, the necessity of such premises faded away because the Christian cult became established throughout the territory, and because those newly baptized were mainly children, small baptismal fonts were used for the ritual.

The shift of the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople (330 AD) added new significance to the territory. The once-remote province became a bridgehead of the new capital, a vanguard, which, besides the benefits from the proximity to the new administrative center of the Empire, was destined also to experience the negatives – numerous barbaric invasions.

This was a period of both – devastation and reconstruction. Besides the cult monuments, many new fortresses were built. Many old Thracian fortresses, useless before, were rebuilt in order to meet and weaken the attacks of invading barbarians from the north.

Proofs of the inhabitation of the Late Antiquity are discovered in almost every antique fortress in the region. Traces of massive buildings constructed of bricks, tiles and plaster can be seen in almost every fortress from this period of time.
The Late Antiquity was a turbulent time and many wars were fought. During this period, the materials and written sources about the Thracian population were gradually lost. After the establishment of the Christianity as official religion of the Roman Empire, the building of new Thracian mounds – so characteristic for the Thracian landscape - gradually stopped. The pagan cult places and images of the Thracian Horseman also vanished. The name Thracian was rarely mentioned in written sources.

It is inappropriate to explain the changes that occurred only with the fact that the numerous barbaric invasions brought a decline in the numbers of the local population. Even conflicts on such large scale could not erase such a large nation from the face of the Earth. The Thracians were the “most-numerous nation after the Indians”, as mentions Herodotus. The reasons for the obliteration of the Thracian ethnos were complex.
The new religion of the Empire - Christianity - unified the customs of the different nations within its borders. The lack of Thracian writing and the imposition of Greek as an official language accelerated this process of unification. The Thracian population was gradually loosing its uniqueness, and finally merged within the huge mass of Christian citizens proudly calling themselves “Romei” – Romans.

During that time, the invasion of the Slav tribes from the north began. Completely different in beliefs, way of life and customs, they stood out on the political scene. This is because they were Roman enemies for a long period of time before their permanent colonization south of Danube River and their transformation into subjects of the Empire.
The transformation of the Slav population into subjects of the Byzantine Empire and the inclusion of their lands within the borders of Empire gradually spread the Christian religion among them. The process of converting the population to Christianity accelerated with the course of time. Most probably, the Slav population—though their sheer numbers would have infused into the common mass of Christian residents of the Empire—would have lost their originality like the Thracian population before them, if the political reality at the end of the 7th Century had not changed the pattern.
During that time north of the Stara Planina Mountains, the new Bulgarian State was formed.
The constant attempts of the Bulgarian rulers to include every Slav-populated region within the borders of the state turned this territory into a border zone. The political authority of the region was often changed from Bulgarian to Byzantium, and vice versa.

At the end of the 14th Century, the Bulgarian state was conquered by the Ottomans. A new stage of the historical development for the region began.

Unlike other regions in Bulgaria, this region completely lacks written sources and other documents about the settlements and the population. The fact stands as quite normal by taking into account that merchants and peaceful residents were constantly passing through this region on their way to and from Edirne and Constantinople, but armies also used the same road and left desolated villages in their wake.
The conquering of the region by the Ottoman Turks finished towards the end of the 14th Century. For the next two centuries, it stayed completely depopulated. Bertrandon Brokier – French knight and traveller cited the complete depopulation as he travelled towards Jerusalem through Edirne and Tsarigrad. Along his voyage between Dimotika and Edirne, he passed only one minor settlement and he mentioned nothing about its population. The French diplomat in Tsarigrad – Buzbek (1553-1562) mentioned that the Bulgarian population frequently left the fertile valleys to settle in the mountains where they felt more secure.

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