Fortress Peristera

Peristera is a fortress located in the town of Peshtera, Bulgaria. It is located on the hill "Sveta Petka", occupies an area of about 15 decares and has a clearly separated citadel, inner city and sub-building.

Have two legends about how the name of the fortress originated.

The first reads as follows: "When christianity was introduced in the byzantine empire in 313, the local inhabitants had to choose which of the hills in the area to build their church. Thus from the hill of St. Petka a flock of pigeons." So perhaps the fortress is called the Peristera, which in translation from greek means "pigeon", "pigeon place".

The second legend dates back somewhere from the 4th century, when a maiden jumps from the cliffs of the fortress trying to escape the roman wars that toured to take the area. In the dark, from the cliffs, silhouette her it to a white pigeon. One of the signs in the fortress reads as follows: Legend says that in this rocky piece, likened to the perched pigeon has possessed the spirit of the thracian maiden Peristera. The fortress bears its name, which in translation means pigeon.

In the center of the fortress there is an older set of stones, probably a Thracian sanctuary. The citadel of the fortress extends to 3 acres and the second belt walls enclose 12 acres. There is a third, outermost zone. In the highest part of the hill there are stones of different sizes, one of which has the shape of a dove. This fact leads archaeologists to believe that the same place is probably an ancient Thracian sanctuary.

The fortification walls have a length of 253 meters and enclose a space of 2895 square meters. Before restoration, they were preserved to a height of 2.60 meters. Along the fortress wall there are six towers: one triangular, two likes of churches and three rectangular. The unique for this place are the two towers - churches, because such a combination tower-church is not known yet within the boundaries of Bulgaria. It is believed to have been converted into churches during the time of Justinian I and is considered a precedent in the construction of the early Byzantine period.

The other interesting that can be seen are the 45 pitosa - the jars, in which are preserved wheat, olive oil and other products, needed to feed the soldiers, guarding the fortress. About 80 pitosa were discovered by archaeologists during the excavations. Also found are many coins, garments of soldiers who have guarded the fortress, arrows, various types of ornaments, glassware and clay, etc. Part of them can be seen in the museum there.

It was declared a cultural monument of national importance (in 2012). On a project of the “Regional Development” program for restoration, conservation and social adaptation, have been carried out the partial restoration of the walls of the fort, the total restoration of the south tower (now a museum) and was built the support infrastructure . There are 4 pavilions for relaxation of visitors and an additional path for the disabled.
The fortress is very easy to reach. There are separate signboards.There is a parking lot where you can park next to the property.