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Photo: Спасимир, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Ruins of a medieval fortress perched on a steep rocky ridge. An inscription carved into the rock testifies that the fortress was strengthened in 1231 by the Bulgarian ruler Ivan Asen II, hence the name. Like most Bulgarian fortresses, only very basic ruins remain, with some modern reconstructions. The site's centerpiece is a fortified church overlooking the precipice. It had survived mostly intact until 1928, when an earthquake collapsed its dome, necessitating reconstructions in later years. There's a parking lot and a tiny on-site museum. One of the 100 Tourist Sites of Bulgaria.
Asen's Fortress, identified by some researchers as Petrich (Петрич), is a medieval fortress in the Bulgarian Rhodope Mountains, 2 to 3 kilometres south of the town of Asenovgrad, on a high rocky ridge on the left bank of the Asenitsa River. Asen's Fortress is 279 metres (915 ft) above sea level. It is located in the Asenovgrad Municipality of Plovdiv Province.
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