Cherven Fortress

Cherven occupies a rock spur in a loop of the Cherni Lom, fortified from the sixth century and developed in the twelfth to fourteenth into a substantial fortified town, one of the more important military, administrative and religious centres of the second Bulgarian state, with a bishop, a citadel, churches, workshops and residential quarters spread over the spur and the slopes below. It was taken by the Ottomans at the end of the fourteenth century and declined. What survives is walls, gates, tower foundations, cisterns, church plans and one tall tower rebuilt in the twentieth century, laid out over a large area with the river below on three sides. The climb up from the village is steep.

What you actually see

• A fortified town on a spur - walls and quarters over a large area.
• The rebuilt tower - the tall structure restored in the twentieth century.
• Church foundations - several plans marked across the site.
• The river loop below - the Cherni Lom on three sides.

When to go

April to October. Two hours including the climb. Mornings are cooler; there is no shade on the spur. Combining it with Ivanovo makes a day in the Rusenski Lom valley.

Honest expectations

The climb from the village is steep and there is no shade on top. Most of the site is at foundation level. Interpretation is limited. The village below has almost no facilities.

Nearby

Ivanovo rock churches are downstream; Ruse lies north.