Castle of Cherven, Bulgaria

The Castle of Cherven is a medieval ruined castle located near the village of Cherven in southeastern Bulgaria. The castle was built in the 11th century on the site of an earlier Byzantine fortress and was one of the most important military, administrative, economic and cultural centres during the period of the Second Bulgarian Empire between the 12th and the 14th centuries.

The Castle of Cherven suffered damage during the Mongol Golden Horde raids in 1242 and was shortly afterwards briefly captured by the Byzantine forces. In 1388 it was conquered by the Ottoman forces and after initially retaining the administrative function the castle's importance began to decline and over the following centuries it fell into ruins. Since 1965 is the Castle of Cherve the national archaeological reserve but it is also open to the public.