When Tsvetan Pavlov was a schoolboy growing up in Ivailovgrad half a century ago, local children were told to let the police know if they ever saw a stranger in town.

The small Bulgarian town on the Greek border was isolated for decades under communist rule – and Greece was very much considered an enemy at the time, remembers Mr Pavlov, now 67.

But now the town is banking on a newly-opened border crossing to boost tourism and cultural links with its neighbour.

“This is one of the happiest days of my life!” Sia Nikolova, a young singer who works in Greece, said as the checkpoint was inaugurated last week.

“We used to travel a hundred kilometres on a winding mountain road to get to Greece, which is just over the border,” she said.

Under communism, the region was severely guarded to prevent any flight to the West and non-residents needed a special permit to travel there. Heavily secured checkpoints were also set up along the road.

Last week, however, Greeks poured into Ivailovgrad to buy cheaper food and fuel following the opening of the new crossing, much to Mr Pavlov’s astonishment.

Now Bulgaria’s government hopes the new link will attract tourists, drawn by the region‘s heritage and unspoilt nature.

Archaeological sites dotting the area were virtually shut to the outside world during the Cold War.

“In order to get to the mediaeval fortress of Lyutitsa you had to cross a number of checkpoints and run the risk of being arrested at any moment,” said Irko Petrov, the director of the regional archaeology museum.

But the barbed wire fences that used to run along the border have long been dismantled, with only a few scattered bunkers and observation towers still seen here and there.

And the former army barracks in Ivailovgrad, once home to several thousand border patrol troops, have been partially turned into a hotel, in the hope of hosting potential tourists.

Ivailovgrad’s major tourist attraction – the sumptuous Roman villa Armira, dating back to the first century – is also banking on visitors from Greece.

The villa’s former owner, a Thracian dignitary, was buried with his horses and carriage across the border in the Greek town of Zoni.

Both sites were recently restored with money from the European programme for transborder cooperation, and Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov called this week for wider cooperation to develop “cultural corridors” in the Balkans and boost tourism in the region.

“During the Cold War the frontier regions remained on the periphery of economic and cultural life,” he said on the sidelines of the border opening ceremony, also attended by Greek President Karolos Papoulias.