Bulgaria in pictures: Peristera - the Pigeon Fortress on Sveta Petka Hill

published on 10/14/24 2:29 PM

Photo: Ivo Ivanov

Above the town of Peshtera in southern Bulgaria is the hill of Sveta Petka. It was once a fortress and its name - Peristera - means "pigeon" in Greek. It is believed that the name comes from one of the huge rocks in the citadel of the fortress, which is shaped like a dove. It was probably revered as sacred since Thracian times.

The first fortification of the hill is believed to have taken place at the end of the 3rd or beginning of the 4th century, after the beginning of the barbarian invasions against the Roman lands in the Balkans. During the reign of Emperor Justinian the Great, in the mid-6th century, Peristera, as part of the third defensive line of Constantinople along the edge of the Rhodope foothills, was completely renovated. The fortress also protected an important route from the Upper Thracian Plain to the Aegean.

What is unique about this fortress is that it has two single-nave churches, St Petka and St 40 Martyrs, built into two of the citadel's towers. The tower churches provided spiritual protection for the fortress, and soldiers would take communion in them before battle. A votive sanctuary dedicated to St Petka was worshipped there until the end of the 19th century.

A large collection of pithos vessels was discovered at Peristera. These were large earthen containers used to store water, wine and food for the inhabitants and defenders of the fortress. Most of the pithoi remain in the place where they were found.

During the excavation of one of the pithoi, the archaeologists found a small treasure. It is believed that the money belonged to a Roman officer who tried to hide it at the last moment before the fortress was conquered by the Slavs and Avars at the end of the 6th century. In his haste, the officer threw the pouch of coins into a pithos of olive oil. The owner never got them back. They were found by archaeologists more than 14 centuries later.