Asen's Fortress (), identified by some researchers as Petrich (), is a medieval fortress in the

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak ...

, south of the town of Asenovgrad, on a high rocky ridge on the left bank of the Asenitsa River. Asen's Fortress is above sea level.

History

The earliest archaeological findings date from the time of the

Thracians The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared betwee ...

, the area of the fortress being also inhabited during the

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

and Early Byzantine period. The fortress gained importance in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, first mentioned in the statute of the

Bachkovo Monastery The Bachkovo Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos ( "Успение Богородично", ''Bachkovski manastir'', ka, პეტრიწონის მონასტერი, ''Petritsonis Monasteri''), archaically the Petritsoni ...

as ''Petrich'' in the 11th century. The fortress was conquered by the armies of the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

. In 1205 the Latin Duke of Philippopolis, Renier of Trit, fled from Philippopolis, which was under pressure from Tsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria, and took refuge in Asen's Fortress (at the time called Stanimaka). Renier of Trit would be besieged in the fortress for eleven months with just 40 knights before being relieved by the army of Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders. It was considerably renovated in the 13th century (more precisely 1231) during the rule of

Bulgarian tsar The monarchs of Bulgaria ruled Bulgaria during the medieval First ( 681–1018) and Second (1185–1422) Bulgarian empires, as well as during the modern Principality (1879–1908) and Kingdom (1908–1946) of Bulgaria. This list includes monarc ...

Ivan Asen II Ivan Asen II, also known as John Asen II (, ; 1190s – May/June 1241), was Emperor (Tsar) of Second Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria from 1218 to 1241. He was still a child when his father Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria, Ivan Asen I one of the founders of th ...

to serve as a border fortification against

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

raids, as evidenced by an eight-line wall inscription. The foundations of fortified walls—the outer ones being thick and preserved up to a height of , originally high—a feudal castle, 30 rooms and 3 water repositories have been excavated from this period. The best preserved and most notable feature of Asen's Fortress is the Church of the Holy Mother of God from the 12th-13th century. It is a two-storey cross-domed single-naved building with a wide

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

and a large rectangular tower, and features mural paintings from the 14th century. The conservation and partial restoration works on the church were finished in 1991 (the whole fortress was left to decay after the Ottoman conquest in the 14th century and only the church remained standing in its original appearance as it was used by the local Christians) and now it is in regular use as a Bulgarian Orthodox church. In the following years after Ivan Assen II's death the castle switch hands between the Bulgarians and Byzantines for decades.The fortress was once again in Bulgarian hands at the time of Ivan Alexander in 1344 only to be conquered and destroyed by the Ottomans during their rule of Bulgaria. The town of Asenovgrad takes its modern name from the fortress, formerly being named ''Stanimaka''.

Gallery

File:Asens Fortress TB 9.jpg, Part of the walls. File:Asens Fortress TB 4.jpg, Front view of the church. File:Church of the Holy Mother of God of Petrich 2.jpg, Apse view of the church. File:Asenova-fortress-2008-06-01-5.jpg, The church from the ruins of the tower. File:Asenova fortress.png, Plan of the fortress. File:Asen's Fortress view from road.JPG, Asen's Fortress seen from the road to the fortress File:Inside the church at Asen's Fortress.JPG, Inside of the church at Asen's Fortress File:Assen's Fortress inscription.jpg, 8 line inscription outside Asen's Fortress

References

Asen's Fortress - website

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{{Castles in Bulgaria Asenovgrad Castles in Bulgaria Rhodope Mountains Medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church buildings Buildings and structures in Plovdiv Province Tourist attractions in Plovdiv Province