A key stage of work to save and restore the medieval town of Rusokastro, in Kameno municipality, is now done, and the site opens to the public in November.
Crews have finished work on the castle's western fortress wall, the two towers at the main entrance, the stairs leading up to the citadel, the barracks and a separate wall with a round tower. These are now fully preserved and partly rebuilt. What's left is the main gate and the stretch of outer wall between the two gate towers, with building work due to finish next month.
The walls now have a protective layer on top, up to 1 metre high, so in places the original wall plus this layer reaches more than 5 metres tall. Restorers are following guidelines set by the National Institute of Immovable Cultural Heritage at the culture ministry.
They built the protective layer using stones from the walls themselves, collected during digs by archaeologists from Burgas museum, so the local red stone keeps its original look.
Work has also started to make the inside of the fortress safe for visitors to explore. Crews are laying wooden decking so people can walk around safely.
Burgas Regional History Museum ran this summer's dig, paid for by the Council of Ministers and Kameno municipality. Over the summer, archaeologists uncovered another 60 metres of the western fortress wall, two towers no one knew existed, and a glass-making workshop.
They found more than 300 artefacts, including copper and silver coins, arrowheads, a spur and over 20 ceramic pots.
The site takes its name from the Greek "Rusokastron", meaning "Red Fortress". The local rock used to build it is rich in iron, which turns rust-red as it oxidises.
The work is part of the "MOBIGATE" project (BGTR0200044), co-funded by the European Union under the Interreg VI-A IPA Bulgaria–Turkey 2021-2027 programme.