Ruins of Monyak fortress description and photos - Bulgaria: Kardzhali (Topic)

Ruins of the Monyak fortress description and photos - Bulgaria: Kardzhali. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photos and a map showing the nearest significant objects.

Photo and description

The ruins of the Monyak fortress are located ten kilometers from the town of Kardzhali, near the village of Shiroko-Pole. The defensive structure was erected in the 12-13th centuries in the Rhodope Mountains at an altitude of about 600 meters above sea level. The Monyak Fortress is considered one of the largest medieval Bulgarian fortresses in the Rhodope Mountains and the highest one. It occupies an area of about 5 hectares, access here is very difficult, as it is complicated by a very steep, in some places almost vertical, rise.

The Moniak Fortress fulfilled the most important strategic function, it stood on the way to the Iron Gate (Zhelezny Gates) pass, and also guarded the access routes to the medieval city located near the monastery of St. John the Prodrome (it was located on the territory that today occupies modern Kardzhali). Historical chronicles contain information about the siege of the fortress by the Latins in 1206 (the Fourth Crusade, which resulted in the conquest of Constantinople by the crusaders). It was in the Moniak fortress that the emperor of the Latin Empire, Henry I of Flanders, was crowned.

During archaeological excavations, the ruins of the city wall were discovered, the remaining part of which is about 270 meters long, up to 7-8 meters high, eight defensive towers 3 -4 meters, as well as water storage tanks. The construction was built of stone blocks cemented with a lime-sand mixture.

The site, where the ruins of the ancient Monyak fortress are located, offers a panoramic view of the city of Kardzhali and the Studen kladenets reservoir.

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Topic: Ruins of Monyak fortress description and photos - Bulgaria: Kardzhali.