Asenovgrad Fortress

Описание: Asenovgrad Fortress, also known as Petrich, is a medieval fortress in the Bulgarian Rhodope Mountains, 2 to 3 kilometres south of the town of Asenovgrad, on a high rocky ridge on the left bank of the Asenitsa River.

The earliest archaeological findings date from the time of the Thracians, the area of the fortress being also inhabited during the Ancient Roman and Early Byzantine period. The fortress gained importance in the Middle Ages, first mentioned in the statute of the Bachkovo Monastery as Petrich in the 11th century. The fortress was conquered by the armies of the Third Crusade.