The village of Arda is situated 36 km to the south of Smolian along the upper part of the Arda River from where its name originates. It lies at 1000 m above the sea level and has about 600 inhabitants. At Ilinden (a religious holiday celebrated on the 2nd of August) an all-village fair takes place; an event at which hundreds people come from all parts of the country. During the summer people can enjoy hiking, cycling or horse riding at the spring of the Arda River, the old Thracian sanctuary near the village and the view of the cone-shaped peak Kom. Its history dates back in the Antiquity when the main Thracian thoroughfare passed through it; the underground church and the monastery at the peak were built and demolished by the Ottoman invaders at the Ilinden Fair but the legend dating from the Middle Ages remains.
