The town of Yakorouda is located alongside the upper reaches
of the Mesta River within the Bountishka forested hill of the
Rhodoppes. To the south and east one is enclosed by the Rhodoppes
while Rila encircles the north and west. Yakorouda is a town with
nice buildings and a well proportioned town square. Logging, potato
processing, cattle breeding and sheep rearing sustain the local
economy. 2KM from Yakorouda, one finds warm mineral springs and
baths. Yakorouda has a long history as a village which, according
to historical documents, was established during the Second Bulgarian
State. Under the Ottoman Yoke, the village was owned by Grand
Vizier's Vakuf Kara Mustapha but was released in 1508 by a tax
agreement under which vakuf village status was allowed. By around
1660, Yakorouda had become the largest village in the Razlog area
but was burnt during violent Muslim conversions in 1660 and most
of its inhabitants were slaughtered.
The Kalyata and former village ruins, as well as a stretch of
the Cherna Mesta river, lie within the Yakorouda village boundary,
which includes the preserved remains of an old fortress with defensive
walls intended to protect the main highway from Dramma and Nevrokop
(now Gotse Delchev) into the western part of the upper Thracian
lowlands. Shafts and excavations have revealed that iron ore was
mined in the Roudishte in the distant past. It is natural to conclude
that the name of Yakorouda can be associated with ore in this
outpost and that the village was a mining centre.
Yakorouda is a station on the Septembvri to Dobrich rail line
while the tarmac road links the town with villages in the Pazardzik
meadows and Razlog valleys. Mountain trails previously linked
Yakorouda with Samokov and Belovo while more difficult goat runs
headed towards Radouil, Kostenets and Sestrimo. Doubtless many
of the routes used by the local inhabitants today owe their origins
to these tracks.
