Dineya Fortress

The ruins of the Late-antique fortress of Dineya are located in "Hissarya" locality, about a kilometer east of the village Voivoda and about 23 km northeast of city of Shumen.

The castle dates from the first half of IV century. It was occurred as a Roman road station between Abritus (Razgrad) and Martianopolis (Devnya), which gradually grew into an important fortress used to stop the frequent barbarian invasions from the north. In VII - IX century the settlement was moved 1 km west of the location of the present village of Voivoda.

Archaeological researches of region discovered that in III - V century the castle was repeatedly destroyed and ruined to the ground by Goths, Huns and Slavs. Importantly its significance requires its recovery and shoring up, so was built the second wall (proteyhizma) and was dug wide and deep moat.

For the construction of the fortress was used the typical of early Byzantine era mixed masonry. The bricks outside are colored with red dye to impart a decorative. The front part was made of hewn stone blocks cemented with mortar and crushed bricks.

The Fortress Denneya was in an irregular pentagonal shape. There were 14 towers on the fortress walls shaped in harp and a semicircular. The second wall was at a distance of 3 to 9 meters from the north wall and was 1.8 meters thick. It is built of medium-sized blocks, bound with white mortar.

Years before 1989 the outer wall has been partially restored, and there was lost part of the fortress authenticity. Nowadays the area is overgrown with bushes and path to the site is difficult to be found.