Kievo Kale

This is a Thracian fortress, probably built from the 12 th to the 10 th century BC, and certainly was the residence of a local ruler. The fortress was built on a peak surrounded on three sides by a meander of the Pizditsa River. The ruins are hard to spot from the outside but in the middle of the fortification there is a large moraine with a Christian cross carved on it. In the uppermost part there is a shaft 2 m deep and 1 m wide, which was allegedly used as a sanctuary.

The local legend connects the name of the fortress with an unknown ruler from Kiev who came here after the conquest of his city by the Tatars.

The starting point for a walk to the fortress is the town of Peshtera, province of Pazardzhik . From the downtown one must go to the St Petka Church, cross the Turkish quarter and walk by the beautiful clock tower to access the Ravnogor elevation in the Batak Mountain. It takes three hours to get from Peshtera to the fortress.