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Asen's Fortress

phone: +359 894 877 880 link: https://www.asenova-krepost.eu/
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The famous Asen Fortress, a symbol of Asenovgrad, is located in the Chernatitsa part of the Rhodopes Mountain. It is located on the Mogilata ridge on a lonely rock and is overhanging the Asenovgrad-Smolyan road, passing along the valley of the Asenitsa river.

The fortress consists of an outer fortification and an inner part (citadel). The outer fortress wall is 2.9 m thick and has a preserved height of up to 3 meters. The rocky hill on which it was built rises 130 m above the city level, about 100 m above the river level and about 30 m from the road Stanimaka - Bachkovo Monastery, which passed at the foot of the fortress. The slopes of the hill west of the church are not only vertical, but even overhanging the river, which makes them absolutely inaccessible.

The height is most accessible only from the southwestern end and from this side a path for riders and pedestrians is made in the rock, about 2 meters wide through which one entered the fortress and went to the church.

The earliest archeological finds date from the 5th-4th century BC, when the Thracians, due to the inaccessibility of the terrain, built a fortification here. The area of ​​the fortress was inhabited during the Roman and early Byzantine eras. According to archeological data, the Bulgarian fortress dates from the second half of the 9th century. Coins from the time of Emperor Theophilus (829-842) have been found.

Initially, the fortress was a small strategic fortress-tower on the pass connecting Plovdiv with the Aegean Sea along the gorge of the river Chaya. Later, two villages formed near it - Petrich and Stenimahos. Then, the population of the fortress increased, as the surrounding area was built with residential and farm buildings. We find the first written information about it in the Statute of the Bachkovo Monastery, where it is called "the fortified settlement of Petrich".

The fortress was captured by the Crusaders during the Third Crusade. During the Middle Ages, Asen's fortress underwent several construction periods, the most significant being that of 1230 - 1231, the work of Tsar Ivan Asen II, when in connection with the deteriorating relations with the Latins it was strengthened and expanded.

Comprehensive and consistent research and conservation have been started since 1970. In the period up to 1978, after regular archeological excavations, the western part of the rocky massif was studied, which covers 1800 sq.m.

The excavation covers mainly the acropolis part of the fortress. This is practically the most serious archeological research on the site of the fortress. Fortress walls, an inner fortress tower, reservoirs, a small fortress church (the chapel of the Holy Mother of God), living quarters, etc. were discovered. The inner fortress tower is located in the western part of the acropolis and has an irregular quadrangular shape at the base. It is a type of inner towers, which were built on the highest place and served for surveillance and protection. It is a tall, narrow building. It has been rebuilt three times. The fragments of household pottery, animal bones and other objects found indicate that it also served as a home for the defenders of the Asen fortress.

  • Historical period

  • Ages
  • How to get there

  • Asen's Fortress is located three kilometers south of the town of Asenovgrad, on a rocky peak on the left bank of the Asenitsa River. There is an asphalt road to the fortress, accessible for all types of cars and buses. Above the tourist center there is a parking lot with 15 parking spaces. Free wireless internet is available in the entire area of the fortress.
  • Fee

  • https://www.asenova-krepost.eu/page8.html
  • Work time

  • https://www.asenova-krepost.eu/page8.html


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