Castra ad Montanesium Fortress

En un regard

Le château en bref

On Kaleto Hill, at the north-western edge of Montana, the ramparts of Castra ad Montanesium serve as a reminder that the modern town is the heir to a Roman military camp. The Romans settled there at the end of the 1st century, drawn by the gold and ores of the Ogosta valley, reoccupying a Thracian fortress of the Triballi; in the 3rd century, faced with Gothic raids, a new enclosure was built on the ancient foundations. The Huns, then the Slavs and the Avars, ruined the site in the 5th and 6th centuries. Partially restored, the remains include thick walls more than a metre across, a large tower and, at the foot of the ramparts, an early Christian basilica of the Syrian type. A symbol of the town, the fortress appears on Montana's coat of arms alongside the goddess Diana; visits are free, and historical re-enactments are sometimes held there.