Ustra

Ustra; Устра
	Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria
	The fortress walls from the outside.
Site information
Condition	In ruins
Site history
Events	Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars

Ustra (Bulgarian: Устра) is a castle in the eastern Rhodope Mountains in southern Bulgaria. Its ruins lie 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) southwest of the village of Ustren situated on a hill at approximately 800 metres (2,600 ft) above sea level.

The ruins of Ustra.

The fortress was built in the 10th century AD to protect an important trade route. It was taken by the armies of Simeon the Great (893-927), but after his death, it was among the lands given back to Byzantium in return for recognition of the imperial title of the Bulgarian rulers. Between the 12th and 14th centuries, it frequently changed hands between the two empires, but the Byzantines held it most of the time.

The ruins are located 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) from the road between Ustren and Zlatograd. There is a hut of the same name nearby. The height of the surviving walls is 10 metres (33 ft).

Namesake

Ustra Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after the fortress.

gollark: ni-ctl just boosts upward every time you're below 256.

gollark: I could probably improve that.

gollark: flyto_good does the ascension and movement thing in parallel, which is possibly bad.

gollark: How does "navigate.lua" compare to flyto_good?

gollark: It does. GTech™ is simply too good.

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