Kostenets

Kostenets lies at the northern foot of the Rila mountains, near the historic pass known as the Gate of Trajan. The village occupies a landscape of mountain streams and wooded slopes, south of the upper Maritsa valley. Excavations at Gorna Cherkva have revealed a fortress and the foundations of a fifth-century Christian basilica, together with pottery and Roman, Byzantine and medieval Bulgarian coins. The finds attest to the long history of settlement in the area.