Momchilgrad municipality released unique footage a few days ago which went viral on social media. The video, shot using a drone, offers a bird’s eye view of the mysterious medieval fortress Asara in the region of the village of Ralitsa in the Rhodopes.
The remains of the fortress date back to the 11th-12th century. They rise on top of a prehistoric rock sanctuary and a crypt. A trapezoidal sacrificial altar has been hacked out on the fortress site. The ruins of two large towers are still visible that were once connected by a passage hacked out into the rock. In one of the towers there are traces of a residential area and a chapel. Archaeologists discovered precious medallions made of bone that were once elements of a gold-inlaid icon.
Video:
Studies have shown that some of the first attempts at ore-mining in the Balkan peninsula took place right here, in the Eastern Rhodopes. Ore-mining galleries like the ones found at the foot of Asara peak have been discovered in the vicinity of the village of Zvezdel nearby. The peak, where the fortress remains are scattered, commands a breathtaking view of the Eastern Rhodopes and the highest peak in this part of the mountain – Stramni Rid peak (960 m.)
Not far from Asara fortress, Boyalak waterfall rises to a height of some 25 m. The bizarre-looking rocks formed after the waterfall are also well worth seeing.
The Asar fortress in Momchilgrad municipality is not the only fortress of that name in Bulgaria. The word “asar” comes from the Arabic-Turkic “hisar”, “hisarlak” meaning fortress, fortification, pile of stones. That is why there are many fortresses in the Bulgarian lands bearing such names.
More:
Video: Tencho Petkov Photography
Editing by Veneta Nikolova
Translated and posted by Milena Daynova
The Bright Week for Orthodox Christians ends with the feast of Thomas Sunday. On this day, the Church commemorates the Apostle Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Christ, called Doubting Thomas because he doubted the Resurrection. When the rumor..
The visiting exhibition of the Regional Museum of History in Vratsa “Gods, symbols and ancient signs” opens at 11 AM on 11 May at the National Anthropological Museum under the auspices of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Experimental..
On May 11, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church honours the memory of the Holy Equal-to-the Apostles and Co-Patrons of Europe Sts. Cyril and Methodius, creators of the original Bulgarian alphabet - the Glagolitic alphabet known in Bulgarian as Glagolitsa ...
Mostly Cloudy
Cloudy
Partly cloudy, chance of rain