Mezdra Fortress, Fortress in Mezdra, Bulgaria

Mezdra Fortress occupies a high rocky ridge above the left bank of the Iskar River in southwestern Mezdra. The hill is naturally protected and sits at a crossroads of routes used since antiquity. Excavations show traces of two successive fortified settlements from the late Copper Age and the transition to the Bronze Age, both destroyed by fires, followed by a Roman fortification from the mid-2nd century, a pagan cult centre from the 3rd century, and a fortified settlement from the 4th to 6th centuries.

Settlement at the site began in the 5th millennium BCE, after which Thracian, Roman, and later Bulgarian peoples each added their own fortification layers. Each civilization left its mark through successive building phases at this strategic location.

The location served as a hub for craftsmanship and spiritual practices across many centuries. Visitors walking through can observe how residents organized their workshops and religious spaces within the fortified settlement.

The archaeological complex is open year-round and is stop No. 16A on Bulgaria's 100 National Tourist Sites; it has a stamp and seal for visitors' collection books. The restored route includes an exhibition hall, an amphitheatre stage and a colonnade, with the existing car park enlarged and the park area rehabilitated. Artistic lighting was installed, and the terrain on the rocky ridge above the Iskar is uneven, so wear sturdy shoes.

The 2008 discovery of a "sanctuary of the aurochs" at Kaleto has no parallel in Bulgaria: the wild ox was a pagan deity believed to hold the world on its horns. About 2,500 years later, Thracians of the Triballi tribe built an early Thracian sacred structure on the very same spot.