“Gradishte” Fortress

Gradishte Fortress is located 2.5 km above the village of Gela. It is a Thracian fortress with the highest altitude of its kind studied so far. It is built on a narrow rhyolite ridge, a branch of the Perelik Lobe, descending north from the peak of Golyam Snizhnik (2188 m) in the Rhodope Mountains.
We made two attempts to see the Gradishte fortress, which has been much talked about lately. The first attempt was unsuccessful. We were led by the big signs leading to the early Byzantine basilica and decided that the road to the fortress was as well marked. But we were optimistic until we came to a fork where the road forked on all fours. Finding nothing to point us in the right direction, we returned to the village to seek help. But instead there we got a rude explanation that there were signs and most interestingly, our desire to get to the fortress , was taken as criminal and they expressed suspicion that we were treasure hunters. This put an end to our touristic dreams. We decided that the terrain was yet to be properly marked.

After some time we made a second attempt to climb up to the Gradishte fortress. For this purpose we inquired beforehand and tried to explore the terrain. Armed with hopes, we set off on foot along the now familiar path and reached the quadruple fork. But… guess – there were no signs there again. Luckily for us, this time a jeep drove by and people showed us which of the four roads to take. The road up was dirt and quite steep. In two more places the road forks and there are no signs pointing in the right direction. Surprisingly, we only encountered informational signs on sections where they were redundant. With wandering and trying to find the correct direction, the climb took us two hours. Despite the obstacles and unfriendly route, the climb up to the fort was worth the trouble. Above, we had spectacular views of the neighbouring fortress of Mount Turlata, the villages of Stickle, Solishta and Mount Snezhanka.
The information given by the archaeologists about the fortress is curious. The excavations were carried out by Damyan Damyanov and Nikolay Boyadzhiev – RHM Smolyan.

Two construction periods were registered during the construction of the fortress. The first covers the time of the so-called “Dark Ages” in Southeastern Europe in the XII-IX centuries BC, a time of great migratory movements along the coasts and hinterland of the Black Sea, Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean basins, leading to the change of the Late Bronze Age with the Iron Age.
The first fortification occupied the uppermost, relatively flat part of the ridge. A rocky precipice approximately 100m high is used as the East Wall. The fortified area is approximately 0.7 hectares. Archaeological excavations recorded the presence of shrines and a residential area within the facility.

The second phase of the fortress’s existence involved the construction of a new, outer wall along the western and northern slopes, 120m long, of which 85m were excavated. During the construction, the most rational use was made of the terrain, ensuring easy defence of the fortification, whose area was increased to 3 hectares. The second wall is up to 3m high and a wooden palisade fence was probably built above it. The width of the stone base is 3.50m. It has a steep and smooth outer face of flagstones, and the inner face is sloping towards the outer face.

This arrangement of the defensive structure is quite logical, since the single-faced dry stonework of partially dressed stone, built on sloping ground, does not stand up to height, and much more building material is also needed. The lack of sufficient stone is compensated by the abundant timber used to build the palisade and the dwellings (shelters) in the fortress. The second period in which the Thracian fortress was expanded covered the second phase of the Early Iron Age (8th-11th centuries BC) and ceased to be used in the 2nd-3rd centuries. Apparently the presence of the Rhodopes to the Roman Empire in the 1st cent. It did not stop the resistance of the local Thracians, who still defended their lands and independence for a long time.

From the village along this road to the fortress is impossible to reach by car. We don’t recommend this route unless you have strong nerves and incorrigible tourists – adventurers. The probability of getting lost is high. As far as we knew, there is another road that can be reached with a high clearance vehicle 250 meters from the fortress. We also found out that the so-called local hotels offer a paid guide who would take us to the fort without any problem, but because of the unfriendly attitude when we first met there, we had no desire to do so.