Fortress of Castra Martis

En un regard

Le château en bref

In the heart of the small town of Kula, a short distance from the Serbian border, stand the ruins of the late Roman fort of Castra Martis, the "camp of Mars". Built towards the end of the 3rd century on a slope overlooking the Voynishka gorge, it belonged to the Danube limes re-established after the abandonment of Dacia. One can make out a square quadriburgium some forty metres on each side, with powerful round corner towers, attached to a more irregular castellum; the south-east tower still rises to over sixteen metres and gave the town its name, Kula meaning "tower". Rebuilt under Justinian, destroyed by the Avars at the end of the 6th century, and then reoccupied in the Middle Ages, the site has been the subject of new excavations since 2023, which confirm its standing among the three major Roman sites of north-western Bulgaria. The ruins are visible from a panoramic viewing platform and are illuminated at night.