Traveler's Guide
East Macedonia & Thrace
Fortress Momchilova (Povidzos)
The XIV-century chronicler Nikifor Grigora writes in his book “Byzantine history”, that Momchil is a Bulgarian man from the Rhodopi mountain, “the son of unknown parents” and later authors describe him as a man “of majestic appearance”, who astonished everybody. During his youth, he was an outlaw and later on he became a Byzantine employee. But he was persecuted for his crimes and for this reason he escaped to the Serbian ruler Stefan Dushan and started working for him. In year 1343, Momchil left the Serbian ruler and went to the camp of the self-proclaimed Byzantine emperor Ioan Kantakuzin, as Umur-the emir of Smyrna (Izmir in present-day Turkey) was an emperor’s ally.
In fact, we know many details about Momchil’s life from the very Kantakuzin, who described Momchil’s misfortunes in his book “History”. Momchil has managed to become a governor of territories and fortresses in the mountain as these territories reached the Aegean Sea shore. At that time, the inhabitants of the then fortress Povisd wanted to have their own governor-legends say that it is the present-day Momchilova fortress, which protected the western border of the lands under Momchil’s control. His fortress rose 130 meters above the surrounding terrain-between the sky and the earth, so that one could see from it neighboring valleys and the mountain peaks at the height of 1215 meters above sea level. It was made of stone and high-quality white lime mortar and the fortress walls were 1,30 meters thick.
At this place, Momchil was powerful and the officials in the Byzantine empire capital city Constantinople wanted to win him over by giving him the title despot and the self-proclaimed emperor Kantakuzin wanted also to win him over by giving him the title Sebastocrator (a Greek word, meaning a nobleman, who has a lot of power). However, Momchil founded his own kingdom as it capital was Xanthi. And he started conquering new lands. He had a common border with the then Bulgarian king Ivan Alexander, endangered Kantakuzin and angered Umur. Momchil died on 07.07.1345 in the heroic battle under the walls of the settlement Peritor and from that moment on the myth about the ruler Momchil originated, as he was described in such a way, that all Bulgarians wanted to have such a ruler: strong, brave and ready to fight against all enemies. He is a legendary person-invincible and well-versed in war, he always demonstrates bravery and even his enemies respect him.
He is described in Bulgarian folklore and in Rhodopi folk songs as a hero, who has always displayed big bravery. You will hear songs about him in the Rhodopi mountain and in the Aegean region, but also in the whole area stretching from the Stranja mountain to Herzegovina. Legends associate him with Krali Marko as participants in the common struggle against Ottoman invaders. You will see arrowheads from the last battle near the fortress wall at Momchilova fortress. And the discovered traces of life-dishes for preparing food, objects from daily life, weapons and coins and sometimes decorations on a costume and on the body give us information about what happened in these lands during the distant XIV century.
Momchilova fortress is the first socialized archeological site on the Milk Road-the antique central trans-Rhodopi road, connecting the Aegean Sea region with the Thracian plain. During the Middle Ages and during the Bulgarian Renaissance, this road had mainly commercial function. This road was also used to take big flocks of sheep to pasture in the Aegean Sea region. It is time to finish. The road downwards is steep, but it is not strenuous and we pass once again across that strange locality. We go downwards quickly, because there at the foot of the mountain, there is a tap from which you can drink crystal clear cold water. We look once again at the g mountain and we see Smolian town.
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