The Rhodope Mountains still jealously guard their legends of brave warriors and foreign princesses, shrouded in the disembodied charm of mystery. Anyone who walks along the forest trail above the Rakitovo village of Dorkovo will feel the magic and power of the medieval capital of the Rhodopes - Tsepina. This fortress is 6 km. from the village of Dorkovo and it is reached by a nice asphalt road. In its current form, it was built by Ivanko, known to historians as "the killer of Asenya", and is fatefully connected with Tarnovo and the dynasty of Asenovtsi.
The period 7-8 centuries is extremely important not only for Bulgaria, but also for the Western Rhodopes and especially for the area of the municipality Rakitovo. This was the time of the Asenevtsi dynasty, the restorers of the Second Bulgarian State.
The uprising that broke out in Tarnovo in 1185, led by the brothers Asen, Peter (Theodore) and Kaloyan, ended in success. In the autumn of 1185, the eldest brother Theodore, with a royal diadem and red boots and with the name Peter ||, was crowned king. The name and royal attributes were not chosen by chance. They are related to the dynasty of King Simeon the Great and his son King Peter |. This is how the Bulgarian statehood was symbolically continued, because it was assumed that the brothers Asen, Peter and Kaloyan were from the family of King Simeon.
About a year after his accession, Tsar Peter || hands over power to his younger and more energetic brother Asen. He takes the name Ivan-Asen | and ruled until 1196, when he was assassinated in a plot by his cousin Ivanko. Having learned of his brother's death, Peter, assisted by Kaloyan, besieged the capital Tarnovo and regained royal power. But in the following year, 1197, he too was killed in a conspiracy. Then the royal power was assumed by Kaloyan, who reigned from 1197 to 1207. He was the one who in 1205 defeated the knightly army of the Latin emperor Baldwin of Flanders near Edirne, captured him and imprisoned him in the Baldwin Tower in Tarnovo. Then Bulgaria became a world power again. Kaloyan receives the title of king from Pope Innocent |||. Later, in 1207, he too was killed in a conspiracy. In the first difficult years, when the brothers Asen, Peter and Kaloyan died in conspiracies, and their children were still young to take over the kingdom, the nephews - the sons of their sisters Boril and Alexii Slav - appeared on the scene. Even during his lifetime, Kaloyan appreciated the qualities of Alexius Slav and made him the governor of the Rhodope region with the center in Tsepina around 1205. In this troubled region, there had to be a reliable person on whom he could rely. As a dynast and eventual heir to the throne, Alexius Slav received the title of despot and was related to the second Latin emperor, Henry of Flanders, who succeeded his captive brother Baldwin of Flanders. Alexius Slav concluded a dynastic marriage with the Latin princess Margarita-Isabella. Arriving in Tsepina, however, she could not bear the harsh conditions and died about two and a half years after her arrival. When in 1207, after the death of Kaloyan, his cousin Boril, with equal rights to him, occupied the Bulgarian royal throne, he broke away and established the autonomy of the greater part of the Rhodopes. In practice, it is a small country with the capital Cepina. After the name of Slav, the Rhodopes were later called the Slavic Forests for centuries.
Legends whisper that when she first saw the harsh "castle" of Cepina, the fragile maiden, Princess Margarita-Isabella, muttered in French: "Oh, Lord, this will surely be my grave!" Slav's mother, Tamara, thought she had said something good and replied in Bulgarian: "Amen, God willing!" After some time, the princess fell seriously ill. Before her death, she ordered that her grave be on the opposite peak, illuminated by the first rays of the sun, from where she often looked towards Plovdiv, her favorite city.
The dominions of the despot Slav were annexed to Bulgaria again by his cousin Tsar Ivan-Asen || around 1230. With the successors of Ivan-Asen || Tsepina passed from Bulgarian to Byzantine hands and back without ever being captured. Emperor Theodore || Lascaris, after attacking it three times and failing to capture it, received it in 1256 with the Regina Peace Treaty. He calls her "loud" and "impregnable". It was believed that whoever controls it controls the Rhodopes. In 1344, Empress Anna of Savoy returned the Chepina to Tsar Ivan Alexander because of his help against the claimant to the Roman throne, John Cantacuzin. The fortress was Bulgarian until 1372, when it was besieged by the Turks led by Daut Pasha. According to folk legends, the marvelous fortress was conquered by cunning - after a long and unsuccessful battle, the Turks gave salt to a mule, which became thirsty and began to run along the fortress walls in search of water. Finally they discovered the pipes, the Turks cut off the water supply and broke the resistance.
In fact, Tsepina has not yet been captured. As the local historian Stefan Zahariev tells in his book "Geographical-historical-statistical DESCRIPTION of the Tatar-Pazardzhik kaaz", when they saw that all the fortresses around had been captured and there was no hope, after a nine-month siege, in 1373, the defenders came out through a secret exit and they went to the Turkish governor of Plovdiv, Lala Sahin Pasha. They concluded a treaty to surrender the fortress, according to which they would destroy the fortresses in the area, but would preserve the churches and the right of ecclesiastical independence. This status of spiritual autonomy and independence is unique because it was preserved for 500 years - until 1873. Thanks to this status, Chepin Bulgarians were never subordinated to the Greek patriarchate. The Greek bishops slandered them before the Turks and became the cause of the Mohammedanization of the Chepin area and the destruction of the churches and monasteries in the 17th century.
Nowadays, the Rhodope solid is about to regain some of its terrible magnificence, it amazes everyone even with a single glance. The socialization of the fortress, reenactments of historical events and legends will give new life to the old capital of the Rhodopes.
Source: www.rakitovo-bg.com
