Six Haunted Fortresses in Bulgaria

Six Haunted Fortresses in Bulgaria
Paul Dale Roberts, HPI’s Esoteric Detective
Sacramento Paranormal Investigations
Halo Paranormal Investigations
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My sister Sharon and her ex-husband Mike lived in Athens, Greece and Santorini Island for 5 years. Mike was a certified scuba diver for an archaeology team. While in Greece, my sister adventured into neighboring countries like Bulgaria and Turkey. My sister had incredible stories about her life on the Aegean Sea. With her stories, my curiosity perked up when I heard stories from other people about the haunting activities in the country of Bulgaria. I was fortunate to meet Tsretan Chavdar from Bulgaria in my travels to Berlin, Germany. Tsretan nicknamed “Dalga Cossa” meaning “long hair”. I would just call him Dalga and he was fine with that and yes, Dalga had long black hair to his waist. Nowadays, he sports short-cropped hair. Dalga gave me a list of 6 haunted fortresses in Bulgaria. Tip of the proverbial hat to Dalga for providing me with this information. Now to Dalga’s list:

BELOGRADCHIK FORTRESS
The Belogradchik Fortress is pretty well intact, compared to the other fortresses on this list. This fortress is on the northwest slopes of the Balkan Mountains. The nearest town is Belogradchik, hence the name Belogradchik Fortress. There are spectacular rock formations in and around the fortress. The rock formation are called the Belogradchik Rocks. This fortress was built during the Roman Empire during the 1st and 3rd centuries. When the Romans vacated the fortress, then the Byzantine Empire took over. This occurred in the 7th century. Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Stratsimir enhanced the fortress in the 14th century, making the fortress one of the most beautiful castles of Bulgaria. According to Dalga, this fortress is haunted by ghostly Roman soldiers. At times people will hear marching sounds along the hillside. At times a Griffon Vulture will land on the double towering rock formation to the left of the fortress. When the locals see this bird, it means it will rain the following day, or it will storm.

BABA VIDA FORTRESS
The Ottoman Empire at one time took control of this fortress. The fortress served as a depository for a variety of weapons. The fortress was also used as a prison. Ghostly moaning sounds are sometime heard in the evening coming out of the fortress. Locals believe these are the sounds of prisoners being tortured. In the underground prison, you can see the gruesome weapons of torture and the gallows where many Bulgarians faced their death. Tourists and locals have been scratched in the prison. At times the sounds of cannons can be heard along the fields. A local says he once came upon an apparition of a man laying out in the field with an arrow through his chest. As the local approached the apparition, it simply vanished.

ASSEN’S FORTRESS
This fortress was around during the time of the Thracians during the 5th century BC. After that, the Romans took over. After the Romans the successor was of Byzantine rule under the leadership of Justinian the Great. After Justinian came the Third and Fourth Crusades that took over, and finally in 1230, it became part of Bulgaria. Peace didn’t last long as the fortress was seized by the Ottoman empire and the original fortress was destroyed. The paranormal activity at this fortress are numerous sightings of shadow people moving about the fortress and sometimes seen along the land that surrounds the fortress. It is rumored that at one time, a werewolf would howl at the full moon near this fortress. On one particular night when the howling was intense, the following day locals found 3 red deer and 2 golden jackals with their throats cut. It is believed they were killed by the werewolf. The last time the howling was heard was in the late 1970s and no more animals have been found dead with their throats slashed. The locals believe the Assen Werewolf is gone.

MEZEK FORTRESS
This fortress dates back to the 11th century. You will find Thracian tombs. At the tombs locals and tourists have been touched. One local even claims he was pushed. The castle has nine towers, five of which lie at the vulnerable south wall. Locals have taken pictures of this fortress at night and captured strange looking orbs in their pictures. At the south wall strange lights have been seen with the naked eye.

TSAREVETS FORTRESS
Tsarevets is a medieval stronghold located on a hill with the same name in Veliko Tarnovo in northern Bulgaria. This fortress served as the Second Bulgarian Empire’s primary fortress and strongest bulwark from 1185 to 1393, housing the royal and the patriarchal palaces. In the throne hall a very distinguished male ghost is seen, wearing a flowing robe. Some locals believe that this ghost in a flowing robe may have been a Bulgarian King. In one of the battle towers a bat like creature was once seen on top of the tower. Locals threw rocks at this creature and the Tsarevets Bat Creature was never seen again.

SHUMEN FORTRESS
In 1444 King Władysław III of Poland (Varnenchik) 1440–1444 of Polish-Hungarian descent attempted to drive the Ottomans out of Europe at the head of a large Christian army but was defeated and killed in the Battle of Varna. Following this battle the fortress was looted and gutted, and the Ottoman rulers eventually abandoned it completely. Locals and tourists say that at times they hear the sounds of battle. Men yelling and screaming and there is no one around.