The Rhodopes  /ˈrɒdəpiːz/ (Bulgarian: Родопи, Rodopi; Greek: Ροδόπη, Rodopi; Turkish: Rodop) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, with over 83% of its area in southern Bulgaria and the remainder in Greece. Its highest peak, Golyam Perelik (2,191 m), is the seventh highest Bulgarian mountain. The region is particularly notable for the Karst areas with their deep river gorges, large caves and specific sculptured forms, such as the Trigrad Gorge.

A significant part of Bulgaria's hydropower resources is located in the western areas of the range. There are a number of hydro-cascades and dams used for electricity production, irrigation and as tourist destinations. The Rhodopes have a rich cultural heritage including ancient Thracian sites such as Perperikon, Tatul and Belintash; medieval castles, churches, monasteries and picturesque villages with traditional Bulgarian architecture from 18th and 19th century.

The name of the Rhodope mountains has a Thracian provenance. Rhod-ope (Род-oпа) is interpreted as the first name of a river, meaning "rusty/redish river", where Rhod- has the same Indo-European root as the Bulgarian "руда" (ore, "ruda"), "ръжда" (rust, "razda"), "риж" (latinrufous) and germ. rot ("червен", "ред"). Through texts of Publius Ovidius Naso and Plutarch, the myth about the origin of the Rhodope mountains and the Balkan mountain range has reached us: "Rhodopa and Hemus were brother and sister. They had started having a desire for each other, where Hemus was referring to her as Hera and Rhodopa to him as her beloved Zeus. The gods felt offended and decided to transform them into homonymous mountains."