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Hisarlaka Fortress is an ancient and medieval fortress occupying a hill at 2 kilometres south-east of Kyustendil.
Originally constructed by the Romans around 400 AD, Hisarlaka Fortress was the administrative and religious center of the region from the 5th to the 15th centuries. The expansive fortress was constructed over ten centuries by different rulers. In the 15th century, forces of the Ottoman Empire partially destroyed and captured the fortress, marking the end of the fortress' use.
The fortress is in the shape of an irregular polygon, it is 117 meters wide and 175 meters long. It is mainly protected by its large walls, which are 10 meters high and 1.6 to 3 meters thick. Along the walls there are approximately 14 towers, most are around 12 meters high. The towers are not uniform, there are both round and rectangular towers, and some more irregular ones too. Two gates and five secret entrances lead to the inside of the fortress.
The Roman walls of the fortress were built with the Roman technique 'opus mixtum'. They were erected using both stone and brick, while powdered brick mortar was used to bind them together.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.