Kitnitsa () is a village in

Ardino Municipality Ardino Municipality is a municipality in Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria. It includes the town of Ardino and 51 nearby villages. Demographics As of December 2018, the municipality of Ardino has 12,792 inhabitants. Only 4,002 inhabitants live in th ...

Kardzhali Province Kardzhali Province () is a province of southern Bulgaria, neighbouring Greece with the Greek regional units of Xanthi, Rhodope, and Evros to the south and east. It is 3209.1 km2 in area. Its main city is Kardzhali. It is Bulgaria's sout ...

, southern-central

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 ...

. It is located southeast of

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

. It covers an area of 11.586 square kilometres and as of 2007 it had a population of 97 people. In Kitnitsa, the second weekend of July features an annual fair that includes a mevlid,

chess tournaments A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard form of chess competition amo ...

, athletic events, and traditional contests.

Landmarks

The Ring rock formation, located near the

Kardzhali Dam Kardzhali Reservoir () is an artificial lake and a hydroelectric dam in southern Bulgaria. It is the uppermost of the three major reservoirs of the Arda Hydropower Cascade, the others being Studen Kladenets and Ivaylovgrad. It is the second larg ...

, provides a view of the dam and the surrounding hills. This natural feature is situated close to the dam and offers a unique perspective of the landscape. Approximately 17 kilometers southwest of Kitnitsa, the Krivus Fortress, built in the

10th century The 10th century was the period from 901 (represented by the Roman numerals CMI) through 1000 (M) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the last century of the 1st millennium. In China, the Song dynasty was established, with most of C ...

, served to protect the area around the

Arda River Arda or ARDA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Arda (Middle-earth), fictional world in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien * Arda (band), a Russian heavy metal band People * Arda (name) Places *Arda (Maritsa), a river in Bulgaria and Greece *Ard ...

. The site includes remains of fortifying walls up to 5 meters high, as well as towers, an entrance, and the ruins of an ancient church at its center. Further from Krivus Fortress, the

Patmos Fortress Patmos () is a medieval fortress in the Rhodope Mountains of southern Bulgaria rising over a promontory near the confluence of the rivers Arda and Borovitsa. A few kilometers to the west upstream the valley of the Arda are located the ruins of t ...

is located on a rocky peninsula along the left bank of the Borovitsa River. Dating from the same period, it is known for its well-preserved western wall. Excavations at the site have uncovered parts of a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

and a tower. The Kardzhali Dam area, where Kitnitsa is located, is used for water sports and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

, where various fish species such as

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

, and

zander The zander (''Sander lucioperca''), sander or pikeperch, is a species of ray-finned fish from the Family (biology), family Percidae, which also includes perch, Gymnocephalus, ruffe and Darter (fish), darter. It is found in freshwater and brackis ...

can be found.

References

Villages in Kardzhali Province {{Kardzhali-geo-stub