Source: www.ipernik.com

Krakra Fortress is located close to the town of Pernik and is suitable for a one-day trip.

The Medieval fortress of Krakra is located on a relatively small rocky plateau in the South-Western part of the town of Pernik. The preserved remnants shape a multiangular fortress which is believed to be built during khan Omourtag’s rule (814 – 831).

The fortress wall is 2 m thick.

The fortress follows the natural shape of the plateau. Archeologists found ruins which showed that there was a fortress at that place back in the 6th – 5th centuries BC.

Its history though is tightly linked with the name of boyar Krakra of Pernik – a Bulgarian commander-in-chief who lived in the 10th – 11th centuries.

He was the ruler of the fortress and the town of Pernik in the beginning of the 11th century as well as of another 35 fortresses in the region. The fortress of Pernik resisted the Byzantine conquest, it managed to survive two sieges (in 1004 and 1016) and medieval Pernik was not destroyed.

The fortress gives a perfect view to the area of Karvavoto (“The Bloody”).

Legend has it that in 1016 Krakra resisted an 88-day siege whereby many Byzantine soldiers died. Their blood colored the area in red hence the name.

Apart from the preserved foundations of residential buildings, the visitors can also see the foundations of three Christian churches – the ruler’s personal church, a huge three-nave basilica and one the earliest two-floor church-vaults in the Christian world.

Archeologists also found a silver stamp pf tsar Petar (927 – 969) – the only silver stamp found s far of that age. Legend has it that it was here that the tsar spent some time on his way to meet St. Ivan of Rila.