Fortress Cherven. Bulgarian castles, fortresses, ruins.

History

Middle Ages Fortress Cherven is located about 30 km. south of Ruse, at the road to the town of Dve Mogili, in the region of Polomieto, next to a village of the same name, having it from the Middle Ages. At first, the locality was populated by the Thracians in the 12th – 6th century BC. Romans settled on these lands in the 1st century AD.
Initially the castle was build during the time of the Roman Emperor Justinian , in the 6th century. Later, the town was invaded by the Protobulgarians. Byzantium construction was significantly distinguished by Bulgarian one, with the larger stone blocks.
The first written report for Cherven was in old Bulgarian language dating from the 11th century. In the apocrypha “The Story of Isaiah prophet” , where it read that “a king with a byname Odelyan, who founded the towns of Cherven, Nesebar, and Shtip”. There is another report in the Boril’s Synodic, where the names of three metropolitans of Cherven were listed. Cherven was mentioned in a poem of Manuil Fil about the march of the Byzantine Commander Mihail Glava against Ivailo.
The fortress is situated and deeply incised and with sloped rock shores and many meanders of the river Cherni Lom, on a high rock hill, surrounded at its three sides by a river.
To some places the rock height is nearly 100 m. , as only in the east, it gradually merges with the surrounding terrain, where is most inaccessible.
Regardless is natural protection of the place, it was additionally fortificated with complicated and imposing fortress premises. Its suitable location and reliable defence system imposed Cherven as an important military centre, which protected the capital Tarnovo in the north.
The characteristics of the terrain, shaped two parts of the fortress – the citadel and the town itself.
The citadel was situated in the most difficult to approach place of the hill, in the borders of the old Byzantine fortress, and the town was spread in the west of it, on the rest part.
Internal city was guarded by a high fortress wall, which in the east was 3 m . thick, reinforced with square battle towers. In its north end, the main fortress gate was situated, which was 2.5 m wide, protected by two towers. The walls guarded the town, they haven’t been excavated yet, but they are clearly distinguished. They surrounded it fully by all sides, with the exception of a small part of the road. In the west, the town was protected best. In the east, fortress premises were connected to the citadel and founded united fortification system.
Fortress walls of Cherven, built from relatively small crashed stones and bound with white mortar solution, are typical for the times of the Second Bulgarian State. In them were put horizontally and vertically wooden beams.
In direct relation to the fortification system of Cherven was the water supply premise of the citadel, built in its south foot, near the river. In a water reservoir premises , below the tower , there is a tapped (captured) karsts spring with a big capacity. From here a tunnel 2.4m high built with regular cotter shaped stones with shaft air hole in the ceiling. It passes into covered corridor , which reaches the foot of a vertical rock. On it, steps were cut, which lead to the castellum. Due to the slope of the terrain, the steps were built in the tunnel as well as in the corridor. Water supply premises secured water of the citadel during the siege, therefore it was strongly reinforced.
The walls of the well preserved defence tower were also built of crashed stones, bounded with mortar and built in wooden beams. Internal town occupied the food of the rocky hill. On the highest place the Boyar Castle was put up, occupying an area of 2.5 decares. Opposite it, are the ruins of the Cathedral of Dorostol – Cherven Metropolitan. It is one of the 13 excavated churches in the town, built in the style of Turnovo Architecture. It is considered , that it was build for a short time , in the second half of the 16th century under the thread of the upcoming Turkish Hordes. The High Clergy of those times, urgently had to move more unprotected town in the Citadel.
Today, the church is covered against destructive influence of the sun and rain.
The tower is square, with a side of 8.5 m. and height of 12 m , probably 4 storeyed , based on the fundaments of horse shoe shaped early Byzantium entrance tower. By one side, a moving bridge was constructed, which connected the town and the Citadel. After its model, Baldwin tower in Veliko Tarnovo was reconstructed.
In 1952 in the west end of the town was discovered a workshop with cut into the rock deep pear shaped furnace for iron melting. It their walls a canal is observed that served to ensure the technological process with air supply. Near them a large amount of iron slag was found out. Obviously, these are the traces of metallurgy production of Cherven, which was based on spread in the region limited quantities of lime ores.
Found iron armament - arrows, spears, spours, lamellas of armours, as well as tools of labour - horse shoe, sickles, spuds, drills, chisel, knives etc., categorically prove the advance iron processing in the Middle Ages Cherven.
The town gained significant military, cultural and economic significance after the Rebellion of Asens in 1185. Its importance rises after 1235, when it became a seat of Middle Ages Bulgarian Cherven Metropolitan. It was affected by the Tatar invasion in 1242 and it was conquered by the Byzantine army, commanded by Mihail Grava Tarhaniot during the rule of tsar Ivailo (1278 – 1280).
In the 8th century, Middle Ages town was one of the most important military, religious and economic centres in Bulgaria. For the high level of development of the town , tells the fact that it was an episcopate centre. In the Boril’s synodic, Cherven Metropolitans were mentioned after those of Sredets, Lovech, Drastar and Ovech. In the second half of the 14th century, it territory is over 1 sq. km, and it had well distinguished, city plan structure, complex, built on stages fortification system and defence building.
The only written report about the destiny of Cherven during the Turkish invasion, is of the chronicler Mohamed Neshri, who mentioned that the town was invaded by Ali Pasha at its destructive march in the southwest Bulgaria in 1388. After Turkish conquer , a fast decline started, which only for a few decades turned the flourishing city into a small village. In the tax registry dating from the first half of the 15th century, that represents a list of the names in Nikopol district (former Turnovo Kingdom), Cherven was listed as a city with 107 housed , a Vilayet centre.
At that time, Cherven Fortress had some military importance. There a garrison was dispatched with 57 soldiers and 3 officers. At the end of the 15th century, Cherven was already a centre of a Nahiya. It remains such along with Tarnovo and Lovech until the second half of the 17th century. Its decline is related not only with the loss of its administrative importance, but also to the economic destruction and population decrease.
Step by step, Cherven lost its significance of religious centre. Population left the plateau and settled at the place of the present village , where the live conditions were more acceptable. The old fortress finally got deserted. Houses were in ruins, construction materials were moved to the new village.
As an architectural site, it has a significant contribution for the study of the Middle Ages history, culture and way of life. First excavations were performed in 1910-1911 by Prof. Vasil Zlatarski, who discovered by the request of Sofia Archaeological Association, one of the churches in the town. Regular and systematic excavations were performed from 1961 .
Archaeological founds in Cherven are preserved in the National History Museum in Sofia and the Regional History Museum in Ruse. Among them, some large coin treasures, jewelleries, epigraph monuments, pottery, everyday life artefacts, craft tools, armaments etc. it was announced as National Architectural Reserve (1965) and it is very popular tourist site with well constructed infrastructure. It is included in a project for the development of rural and ecological tourism, accepted by the Municipal Council of the village of Ivailovo.
It is included in a program , funded by EU PHARE program for development of the cultural tourism in Bulgaria.