Ustra Fortress

Ustra (Bulgarian: Устра) is a medieval fortress in the eastern Rhodope Mountains in southern Bulgaria. It is among the highest and best preserved fortifications in the mountain range. The fortress was controlled by the Byzantine and the Bulgarian Empires until the region was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in the second half of the 14th century.

Ustra Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after the fortress.

Text adapted from “Ustra” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ustra Fortress ranks #3,030 of 5,479 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #17 of the 20 mapped in Bulgaria. See how Bulgaria compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗