Castles & fortresses
Medieval strongholds on rocky hills, Byzantine and Bulgarian fortresses and old towers. Each one comes with its history, curiosities, a map and tours nearby.
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors
19 places
Anevo Fortress
Sopot · medieval fortress with 12-metre walls
Asen's Fortress
Asenovgrad · rocky-ridge fortress with a medieval church
Baba Vida
Vidin · the best-preserved medieval castle in Bulgaria
Baldwin's Tower
Veliko Tarnovo · tower tied to a captured crusader emperor
Belogradchik Fortress
Belogradchik · Roman-era fortress using towering natural rock
Bozhenishki Urvich
Botevgrad · mountain fortress and a medieval stone inscription
Castra Martis
Kula · late Roman fortress and the tower that named a town
Cherven
Ruse · medieval hill town with a fully preserved tower
Lyutitsa
Ivaylovgrad · white marble fortress deep in the Rhodopes
Markeli
Karnobat · border stronghold of two medieval empires
Mezek Fortress
Svilengrad · medieval fort with nine round towers
Nebet Tepe
Plovdiv · prehistoric hill fortress with a secret Roman tunnel
Palace of Omurtag
Han Krum · khan's fortress on top of Gothic churches
Shumen Fortress
Shumen · three walls, twelve churches and a thousand years
Tower of Kurt Pasha
Vratsa · a 17th-century tower house that looks like a castle
Trapezitsa
Veliko Tarnovo · church ruins on the capital's second citadel
Tsepina Fortress
Dorkovo · ruined Rhodope fortress of a medieval despot
Ustra Fortress
Ustren · high, well-preserved Rhodope fortress with towers
Vishegrad Fortress
Kardzhali · medieval fortress with a Thracian fort next door