Welcome to Part III of my series exploring Belogradchik. Last fall, 
and I traveled the western half of Bulgaria and this was our first stop and what a stop it was! So far, I have shared a monochromatic prelude to this series plus looks at the natural beauty of this place. Today, I will show you the incredible fortress that was constructed incorporating the geological formations located just above the town of Belogradchik.
The history of the fortress dates back to the days of the Roman Empire. It served not only as a defensive position but also as a watchpost for the surrounding area in the northern part of the Balkan Mountains. In the 14th century, the fortress was expanded and fortified only to be overrun by the Ottomans in 1396. In the 19th century, major overhaul of the structure was spearheaded by the Ottomans who were assisted by engineers from France and Italy. The 19th century also brought with it the last rounds of military action with the Belogradchik Uprising of 1850 and the Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885.
Let's take a walk and see what we can see.
This is the gate into the main part of the fortress. As you can see, the rocks provided a natural barrier which was then augmented with stone walls that, in some places, were 2 meters thick and almost 40 meters high.
A detailed shot of the gate shows that nature is attempting to reclaim this place.
The fortress is spread across the mountain top and is divided into separate yards that are connected by a series of gates.
Onward and upward. Nestled between the rocks, that tree has found a home with quite a lovely view.
There's trailblazer,
Looks like the perfect fortress door to me.
It's as if we have crossed over into another world.
A few more steps to go. On our way back down, we met a couple here that is currently residing in Germany but is from California just down the freeway from where I'm living. What a small world!
Finally at the top, we had an unbelievable panoramic view of the area (a characteristic of any fortress worth its salt). The town of Belogradchik is stretched out below on one side and on the other...
...the Balkan Mountains sprinkled with more magnificent rock formations...(happy sigh.)
The next few shots will show you how the fortress walls were stitched right into the rock. This particular gate looks like they have several extra guards permanently on duty.
Layers and levels, natural and man-made.
This was a view from outside the fortress that we saw on our hike through the surrounding forest.
We found a side entrance that was forgotten by time. I wondered what was on the other side of this door and about the people who went in and out back in the day...what were their stories?
After our tour of the fortress, we had an excellent afternoon exploring the area just outside Belogradchik. We managed to make it back in time to catch the fortress bathed in alpenglow. This was the one of our many rendezvous with the sublime on our travels throughout Bulgaria.
We had clear skies all day, but a few decorator clouds rolled in for our sunset...(another very happy sigh.)
I hope you enjoyed our walk through history and were as amazed as I was by this collaboration between man and nature. I have a few more things I would like to share with you from Belogradchik so be on the lookout for those posts coming soon...I promise!
Check out my previous posts from in and around Belogradchik:
The Prelude
The Series Begins
Part II
Exploring the Back Roads of Northwest Bulgaria
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belogradchik_Fortress
!steemitworldmap 43.623141 lat 22.678755 long Belogradchik Fortress d3scr
