Asen's fortress

Asen's fortress is the most attractive and frequently visited tourist landmark around Asenovgrad. It is three kilometers south of the city, on a rocky peak on the left bank of the Asenica River. Next to it leads a panoramic road, diverging at the very beginning of the road Asenovgrad - Smolyan.

The natural rock massif on which the fortress is located has an area of ​​twelve acres. With its almost vertical, even overhanging slopes, it is inaccessible from its three sides. The strategic location and the natural protection of the area was used during the time of the Thracians, which in the 5th century BC Build a fortification.

The fortress was renewed during the time of Roman Emperor Justinian as one of the 300 strongholds prepared for protection by Slavic tribes entering the Empire. Asen's fortress has three major construction periods - in the 9th, 11th and 13th centuries.

The tower, built by small Byzantine fortresses, has been expanding over time with the villages of Petrich and Stenimohos being formed around it. Its strategic location at the beginning of a passage that connects Thrace with Northern Greece and the Aegean Sea and that it was in a rich agricultural area gradually turned the Petrich fortress (as it was then called) into a stand-alone business center with its own administration, Military power.

The fact that the fortress was in the possession of Thracians, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Bulgarians and Ottomans, as well as the archaeological finds found in all historical periods preserved in the Historical Museum - Asenovgrad make the medieval Assen fortress one of the most preferred places for Visit the Asenovgrad area.

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