Kovachevsko Kale fortress

Overview

The late antique Roman fortress "Kovachevsko kale" is located next to the asphalt road Popovo - Byala, 6 km west of the town of Popovo, Targovishte region. It is located in a small plain valley, which was formed at the confluence of the tributary Chepez Dere in the river Kovachevska (Erek Dere). In ancient times, direct visibility to Kovachevsko Kale was only from the east and west, and from the north and south - the fortress remained covered and protected by three medium-high plateaus. Also, during his field trips and research in this part of Bulgaria, Karel Shkorpil, describing the ancient northern Balkan road from Marcianopolis to Melta, through Nikopolis ad Istrum, noted that Kovachevsko Kale is the second road station on this Roman road, and prepared a plan for the fortification. and system.

A powerful fortress wall, built in the 4th century, with a thickness of about 3.20 meters, surrounded a vast area of ​​estimated size - about 50 acres. An obligatory part of the fortress construction here are the large number of towers issued in front of the wall, fourteen towers, of which were U-shaped, located almost symmetrically along the length of the fortress, and four round towers - one for each corner. Two gates - north and west, a bridge over the Chepez Dere River - no longer existing, an underground aqueduct built of clay pipes, complemented the details of the construction.

Before the beginning of regular archeological excavations in 1990 in the area of ​​Kovachevsko Kale, very few facts were known about the once existing fortress, obtained from objects accidentally found here.

As a result of periodic excavations near the town of Popovo over the past twenty years, today the ruins of the fortress, for the most part, are well explored and preserved, and archaeological finds are exhibited in the historical museum of the town.