"Vinovgrad" near Lakatnik

The fortress is located southeast of railway station Lakatnik and east of the track of European tourist route Kom - Emine. Although the mountainous hill on which is situated the fort is not a high altitude (850 meters), access to it is difficult. The main ridge develops in the northwest-southeast direction and is long almost a kilometer. The access to the fortress is only from the east, far away from the main roads.

The fortress is situated in the northwestern part of the ridge and occupies a small space in its highest part. On the terrain are visible remains of destroyed stone structures and the fortress walls with a thickness of 2 m on the northern slope of the hill. The construction of the preserved walls is by square stones of dry solder. In some places the walls are reserved to 1 m in height.

The construction of preserved remains is very similar to those of Osikovo’s fortress – characteristic is the shaping the face of the wall with large stones and filling the interior with pebbles. This technique, known as opus implectum is distinctive for the Romans, however, in this period was mandatory the use of solder and mortar in the walls. Therefore as a alleged date of the “Latin” fortress (as well as those of Osikovo fortress) we accept the Medieval period.

The fortress near Lakatnik is pretty attractive place to visit. Access to it, however, is truly difficult as in some places is lacking even the path and must be crossed wooded hill. Around the railway station Lakatnik and the natural phenomenon Lakatnik rocks are focused quite a big number of fortresses - a fact which requires further study. However, in the presence of two easily accessible fortresses in the region (Osikovo’s fortress and Thracian fortress), visit the Lakatnik fortress is a challenge.