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Melnik is a small town in Southern Bulgaria, famous for its history and its famous wines. The town has existed since the Middle Ages to the present day has preserved its unique and identical image.

According to Academician Ivan Duychev the name of this romantic Bulgarian town comes from the Slavic word "mel" - white clay, chalk, because of the amazing stone pyramids, which surround it. Archaeologists suggest that the town arose around the fort guarding the southern Bulgarian border. Today few people live there butit is visited by more and more tourists, not only from Bulgaria. There are two reasons: its breathtaking beauty and densely flavored wine produced from Broad leaved vine, which people say can drink and chew. It is so famous that the locals told how every year Winston Churchill ordered 500 liters of it. It is uncertain whether this story is true, but if you visit the historical museum of Melnik, you will learn many interesting things. Before it was located in Pashova house built in 1815 and today has a new own building. Artifacts are exhibited, which cover the region's past from prehistory to the present day. Its ethnographic exhibition acquaints visitors with the life and culture of local inhabitants during the Bulgarian National Revival, with particular attention is paid to wine.

During the first centuries of Ottoman rule Melnik declined, but was revived in XIX century. At the core of its being are the production of tobacco and wine. In the city there were over 70 churches and in the area there are four monasteries. According to Vasil Kanchov in the beginning of XX century the population of Melnik consisted of 4330 people, half of them Greeks.

They say Kordopulova house in Melnik is the largest National Revival house in the Balkans. Built specifically for production, storage and marketing of wine, it belonged to a rich Greek family – the Kordopulos. Today it is a museum, but its owners also produce wine. The cellar- tunnels of the house have been able to accommodate 300 tons of wine, as the greatest barrel has a capacity of 12 tonnes. Seven internal staircases connect the various floors and attics. The upper floors are extremely beautiful, covered with colorful rugs. Light falls on them from 24 windows, some of them with colored Venetian glass. The house is decorated with carvings and paintings.

The greatest spiritual sanctuary in the Pirin region is 7 km from Melnik. According to records from Mount Athos the Rozhen monastery was built in 890. The nearby village of Rozhen gets its name from the church of the monastery "Nativity of Virgin Mary." The monastery reached its apogee during the XIX century, when it became a regional cultural center and obtains many lands. During the Ottoman rule it was turned into a convent of Iverskiya monastery on Mount Athos.

The dispute over the ownership of this monastery was settled by the tribunal in Hague in 1921 - in favor of Bulgaria. Today the monastery is a masterpiece with its stained glass and woodcarving, which is often intertwined motif "vine" - testimony that she is the result of artists from Debar and Samokov School. The monastery can be seen the miraculous icon of Virgin Mary, which is stored in the chapel "St. Cosmas and Damian". It is one of the few copies of the sacred icon of the famous iron, guarded the gates of the Iviron monastery on Mount Athos.