Fortress Malkoto kale
Photo: travelagent.bg
Type: Fortress
Location: Town Sozopol »
In Bulgarian: Крепост Малкото кале »
Malkoto kale is an ancient fortress named after the hill where it is situated, which is the highest one from the mountain chain Meden Rid (Copper Ridge). The fortress is located near the town of Sozopol, south of the fortress Lobodovo Kale.
Excavation on the hill showed that there was a village even during the Early Iron Age. This village and the fortress were built by the Thracians-skirimini in the XIII-XII century BC. At the end of V-beginning of IV century BC, it was surrounded by a fortress wall built of broken stones without mortar, and included huge stone valunas (big pieces with diameter from 10 cm to a few meters) in the walls with the height of 7-8 meters. The fenced area is 4 acres.
The entrance of the castle is in the narrow passage between two large stoned valunas with a height of 6 meters. The principle of protection is the same like the one in Valchanovo Kale (Ranuli), which is protected from both sides, where the left side is covered with a wall going ahead under a wide angle and the right side - with a high stoned valuna. The earliest one of this fortification feature was recognized in the Eastern Mediterranean from the fortification systems of Troy VI and Mycenae.
On the surface of the fortress terrain there are scattered fragments of roof tiles from the type that had been producing in the Apollonia during IV-II century BC, which indicates that this village had become a part of the Apollonia Pontica polis during this period.
Excavation on the hill showed that there was a village even during the Early Iron Age. This village and the fortress were built by the Thracians-skirimini in the XIII-XII century BC. At the end of V-beginning of IV century BC, it was surrounded by a fortress wall built of broken stones without mortar, and included huge stone valunas (big pieces with diameter from 10 cm to a few meters) in the walls with the height of 7-8 meters. The fenced area is 4 acres.
The entrance of the castle is in the narrow passage between two large stoned valunas with a height of 6 meters. The principle of protection is the same like the one in Valchanovo Kale (Ranuli), which is protected from both sides, where the left side is covered with a wall going ahead under a wide angle and the right side - with a high stoned valuna. The earliest one of this fortification feature was recognized in the Eastern Mediterranean from the fortification systems of Troy VI and Mycenae.
On the surface of the fortress terrain there are scattered fragments of roof tiles from the type that had been producing in the Apollonia during IV-II century BC, which indicates that this village had become a part of the Apollonia Pontica polis during this period.
