Kovachevsko kale ( bg, Ковачевско кале) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

city which lies west of the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n town of Popovo. The

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

archaeologist

Karel Škorpil Karel Václav Škorpil ( bg, Карел Вацлав Шкорпил; 15 May 18599 March 1944) was a Czech-Bulgarian archaeologist and museum worker credited along with his brother Hermann with the establishment of those two disciplines in Bulgar ...

called it Kovachoveshko kale, after the name of the nearby village, Kovachevets (at that time Kovachovets). It is notable for its massive defensive walls which have a roughly triangular plan and enclosed an area of more than 40 hectares (app. 10 acres). The stone walls are fortified with 17 U-shaped towers. There are two gates, one to the west and one to the north-east. The city is located on a flat terrain, naturally protected by rivers. The strong 3.20 m thick walls were built between 308 and 324 AD during the joint reign of Roman Emperors

Constantine I the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea ...

and

Licinius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (c. 265 – 325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan, AD 313, that granted official toleration to C ...

after the Gothic Wars of 250-269. The city was set on fire in the Second Gothic War of 376-382 AD. It was slowly restored until the invasion of

Attila the Hun Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Ea ...

around 447 AD. Finally it was destroyed by the

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

and Avars in the 580s. Recent excavations by Veliko Tarnovo University “St. Cyril and St. Methodius" have revealed a huge Roman building from the 4th century AD within the walls which appears to have been a ''

horreum A ''horreum'' (plural: ''horrea'') was a type of public warehouse used during the ancient Roman period. Although the Latin term is often used to refer to granaries, Roman ''horrea'' were used to store many other types of consumables; the giant Hor ...

'' (i.e. a granary).Archaeology in Bulgaria: http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2015/12/10/archaeologists-discover-huge-ancient-roman-horreum-granary-in-kovachevsko-kale-fortress-near-bulgarias-popovo/ It measured over 60m x 25m, though it has not been fully exposed. It had a massive double door of 2.4m width. The walls of the building are 1.3m wide reinforced with external buttresses. It had two stories and a basement and was constructed with ''

opus mixtum Example of ''opus mixtum'' in the substruction of France.html"_;"title="Brest_Castle,_France">Brest_Castle,_France_ ''Opus_mixtum''_(Latin:_"mixed_work"),_or_''opus_vagecum''_and_''opus_compositum'',_was_an_Roman_architecture.html" "title="ran ...

''. The granary was plundered and set on fire around 378 AD probably by the Goths. An underground aqueduct built of clay pipes supplied the fortress with drinking water, descending from the northwest over several kilometres from Kalakoch hill. File:Kovachevsko_kale_2.jpg, File:Kovachevsko_kale_3.jpg, File:Kovachevsko_kale_4.jpg, File:Bild-Inschrift.jpg, Undeciphered Latin inscription discovered outside the northern wall.

References

External links

Kovatchevsko kale - a 3D reconstruction by Marhis Architectural StudioBulgarian castles - Kovachevsko kale
Roman fortifications in Moesia Inferior Buildings and structures in Targovishte Province Castles in Bulgaria Roman towns and cities in Bulgaria {{Byzantine-stub