Price: Cepina fortress was one of the most famous and inaccessible in the Rhodopes. It is located near the village Dorkovo Rakitovo Municipality, about 16 km from Velingrad.
The first written record of the castle is Tsepina 1220 This is an endowment deed (sigilia) of Despot Alexius Slav, a monastery of the "Virgin Mary" in Melnik. Store in the Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos (Holy Mountain). It Alexius Slav wrote that had the seat again Tsepina then Melnik. The actual city in Byzantine sources mention as "Cepayna”.
External walls cover an area of 25 acres, and at - the high was built medieval castle on an area of 1.5 acres. Its walls are preserved to a height of 2.5 meters in the fortress were discovered and studied the remains of three churches and four deep reservoirs (cisterns), reaching a depth of 10 m
Originate from one church two marble altar relief of the Apostles Peter and Paul, at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Basics of internal and external walls and foundations of churches and four reservoirs are preserved and attract many tourists.
In the Middle Ages Cepina is one of the most famous castles Rhodope. Became a part of the Bulgarian state in the middle of the IX century. In the XI century it was conquered by the Byzantine Empire, but during the reign of Tsar Kaloyan (1197-1207) Tsepina again returned to the territory of the Bulgarian state. When Kaloyan appointed his nephew Alexius Slav manager in the Rhodope Cepina became the seat of the ruler of the despot.
Legends of Cepina tell that she was buried the wife of Despot Alexius Slav - Margaret Isabella, daughter of the Latin Emperor Henry. After the wedding in Constantinople in 1206 the girl - then only 13 years old, went with his uncle and a maid in Cepina. Seeing the castle, however, uttered in French (so as not to see any): - My God, this will probably be my grave! Alexius Slav mother Tamara (sister of Tsar Kaloyan) thought that she blessed the fortress and said, Amen, God forbid! Not long after, Margaret Isabella fell ill and less than a year after the wedding died.
It can be reached by asphalt road from the village Dorkovo, about 6 km, which ends at Cepina hut, which has a museum with artifacts from the fort, but today it is closed. From the hut road goes up to the fortress itself and after about 10 minutes of walking to reach the walls. This way of reaching the fort, however, is only available when there is no snow. The views that alternate along the way are extremely beautiful. The castle is open access. For more information, contact the nearest hut "Cepina."
- Fortress
