Beadnos Fortress

The remains of fortress Beadnos (aka "Byadnos" and "Byadan", in Greek: Μπέαδνος) are located in the Chernatitsa part of Rhodope mountains, 2 km north of the Beden village. This is a medieval Bulgarian and Byzantine fortress built before the IX century. The castle has stood on the highest peak ("Suhiat Vrah", 1432 m) from where there are magnificent views то Перелик, Chernatitza, valleys of Vucha and Shirokolushka rivers, Devin and Batashka mountains and Mursalitsa. The main role of the fortification was to guard the surrounding villages and provide security for the roads passing through the Rhodope Mountains. From here there was a visual connection with the nearby castles of Turlata, Gradishteto (near village of Gela), the Devin and others.

Beadnos is mentioned in Greek documents by John Kantakuzin in the middle of the XIV century as one of the nine fortresses in Rhodope mountain, ceded by the Empress Anne of Savoy to the Bulgarian tsar Ivan Alexander for Bulgarian assistance in the war against Kantakouzenos.

Fortress Beadnos was relatively small and it is more a feudal castle than a solid stronghold. It had a shape of an irregular rectangle (50x25 meters). There were two rows of walls - by stone and wooden, made of thick pine beams. Today the walls are almost destroyed and only parts of the Northeastern walls are preserved with a height of 1 meter.