Assenova Krepost (Asen’s Fortress) – Assenovgrad.
This fortress is one of the symbols of the Rhodopes, and it also played a decisive part in the defense of the mountain. It is situated on an unreachable rock peak, rising vertically above the Chaya River. A lot has been preserved up to present days: the foundations of the fortress wall, some towers, a water reservoir, the buildings inside, as well as the perfectly preserved church Sveta Bogoroditsa Petrichka. The church was built in the 12th century, it has two floors and a bell tower. There are partially preserved frescoes inside the church. The fortress itself was built in the 9th century; the Byzantines built it to defend the mountain passage, which was one of the most important passages in the whole Rhodopes. Later, in 1231, Tsar Ivan Asen II conquered the fortress and modernized it. Asen’s Fortress used to have an area of 12 decares, and it existed until 1410. There is genuine inscription, carved on a rock, saying: “In the year of 6739 (1231) indiction 4th of God, raised by the kingdom (Tsar Asen) tsar of Bulgarians and Greeks, as well as other countries, put Aleksi Sevasta and built this fortress.”