Castles & Palaces
Tsarevets Fortress hilltop citadel at sunset in Veliko Tarnovo

10 historic sites

Castles in Bulgaria

Bulgaria's medieval fortresses tell the story of the Second Bulgarian Empire — the Balkan kingdom that rivalled Byzantium for supremacy of the eastern Balkans between 1185 and 1396. Tsarevets Fortress in Veliko Tarnovo, the imperial capital on a dramatic hill loop of the Yantra River, is one of the most spectacular medieval citadels in southeastern Europe. Bulgaria's castle heritage is among the least visited and most rewarding in Europe.

Tsarevets Fortress on its hilltop above the Yantra River gorge with the Cathedral of the Holy Ascension at the summit, Veliko Tarnovo

bulgaria · Veliko Tarnovo Province

Tsarevets Fortress

The hilltop citadel of the Second Bulgarian Empire — capital of the medieval Balkans

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Balchik Palace on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast — Queen Marie of Romania's eclectic white seaside villa surrounded by Bulgaria's oldest botanical garden in Dobrich Province

Bulgaria · Dobrich Province

Balchik Palace

Queen Marie of Romania's retreat — an eclectic seaside villa in Bulgaria's oldest botanical garden

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Kaliakra Fortress on Cape Kaliakra, Bulgaria — the clifftop ruins of the medieval Bulgarian fortress on a narrow Black Sea promontory with 70-metre drops to the sea below

Bulgaria · Dobrich Province

Kaliakra Fortress

The cape where 40 maidens leaped into the sea — and Russia defeated the Ottoman fleet

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Asen's Fortress and the Church of the Holy Mother of God on the cliff above the Asenitsa River gorge in the Rhodope Mountains near Asenovgrad, Bulgaria

bulgaria · Plovdiv Province, Rhodope Mountains — near Asenovgrad

Asen's Fortress

Tsar Ivan Asen II's mountain fortress above the Asenitsa gorge — with Bulgaria's most beautifully preserved medieval church clinging to the cliff beside it

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Belogradchik Fortress walls weaving between giant red sandstone rock formations in Bulgaria

bulgaria · Vidin Province, Northwestern Bulgaria

Belogradchik Fortress

A Roman fortress woven between giant red rock sculptures in the Bulgarian wilderness

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Ravadinovo Castle ('In Love with Wind') on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast — the neo-medieval towers and formal gardens of Georgi Tumpalov's hand-built limestone castle still under construction

bulgaria · Black Sea Coast

Ravadinovo Castle

Bulgaria's self-built dream castle — 20,000 tons of Black Sea limestone constructed entirely by hand since 1996, still under construction, in a village 10 kilometres from Sozopol on the southern Black Sea coast

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Perperikon megalithic rock complex in the Eastern Rhodopes, Bulgaria — the ancient Thracian sanctuary city carved entirely from trachyte bedrock, with rock-cut palace rooms, altars, and cisterns on a hilltop above the river valley

bulgaria · Kardzhali Province, Eastern Rhodopes, Bulgaria

Perperikon

One of the largest megalithic complexes in the Balkans — a Thracian rock-carved sanctuary city with a possible ancient Dionysian oracle, inhabited for a thousand years

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Ovech Fortress on its natural rock plateau above the Provadia River gorge, Varna Province, Bulgaria — the medieval Bulgarian cliff-top stronghold approached via the stone bridge spanning the ravine

bulgaria · Provadia, Varna Province, Bulgaria

Ovech Fortress

A fortress on a natural rock plateau above a gorge — approaching across the stone bridge is the most dramatic entrance to any medieval site on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast

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Krakra Fortress ruins on the hilltop above Pernik, Sofia Province, Bulgaria — the 10th-century medieval Bulgarian stronghold associated with voivode Krakra's defense against Byzantine siege

bulgaria · Pernik, Sofia Province, Bulgaria

Krakra Fortress

The fortress that held out against the Byzantine Emperor — voivode Krakra's 11th-century stronghold above the town he made legendary

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Tsari Mali Grad fortress in the Rila Mountain foothills near Belchin, Sofia Province, Bulgaria — the partially restored Roman-era fortress with five archaeological occupation phases, rediscovered in 2007

bulgaria · Belchin, Sofia Province, Bulgaria

Tsari Mali Grad

A Roman-era fortress rediscovered in 2007 in the Rila foothills — paired with Belchin's natural mineral springs in the most unusual day-tour format in the Sofia region

From €205Explore →