Archaeologists uncover unique Roman fortress near the village of Shirokovo

A unique Roman fortress was discovered at the end of the archeological season on the outskirts of the village of Shirokovo in Rousse district.

According to initial data, it is from the fifth century. According to archaeologists from the Regional History Museum in Rousse, such construction of a fortification is very rare in Northeastern Bulgaria.

Apart from the place where it is located, which naturally protected two Roman roads along the rivers Baniski and Cherni Lom, the fortress was built in a way little known in these lands.

"Here we are talking about the construction of huge rustic blocks. The interesting thing is that some of these blocks have the initials of the builders who made them and the other interesting thing is that there are letter markings on the individual blocks, these are stonework markings on how exactly the blocks must be arranged ," said Deyan Dragoev, an archaeologist, the leader of the team of the excavations.

Preliminary research by archaeologists suggests that when the fortress passed into Bulgarian hands a few centuries later, it became part of the enigmatic town of Krastovets.

It is mentioned in the chronicle of Mehmed Mishri, as one of the cities supporting Shishman Aga, that is, the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Shishman. Whether this is the case, we still do not know, but the fact is that what we discovered during the archaeological research, shows an incredible fortress from a fortification point of view, a fortress that has no comparison in the Polomie ”, said Deyan Dragoev.

So far, excavations have uncovered coins from the seventh century, as well as metal parts of clothing - belt buckles and brooches. According to archaeologists, this place is still subject to serious and in-depth study for years. Moreover, the estimated area on which the fortress was located is nearly 12 acres.