Ranuli fortress

Ranuli (aka Azine) is the name of an ancient city, which ruins are situated close to the mouth of Ropotamo River where it goes into the Black Sea, 12 kilometers south-east from the town of Sozopol and 5.7 kilometers north-west of town of Primorsko.

There is a rocky hill , covered with green grass all over it, which is called The Lion Head, and it is exactly over the river` s mouth, and the fortress on it gave the beginning of the city. The city was built on this place because of the favorable climate and relief.

There are still walls of the fortress which are in a quite good shape, build from big and well shaped stones which are fencing an area of 30 000 square meters, and that turns the city into one of the biggest fortified cities in Bulgaria.

According to the structure of the building, the people dealing with researches refer the fortress to the epoch of Cryto - Mycenaean civilization which was 14-16 century B.C. There was life on that hill even before that but the massive construction had destroyed great part of the artifacts.

It is considered that on the time of the Roman Empire, this fortress was one of the most serious centers of the Black Sea.

Nowadays the fortress is also famous with the name Valchanovo kale, because it was used by Valchan voivode for a command post during the Ottoman Empire.