Monyak cache Traditional Cache
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The "Monyak" fortress is located east of the town of Kardzhali, near shore of the "Studen kladenetz" dam lake. Elevation is 586m.
The Medieval fortress Mneakos has the statute of an immovable memorial, a cultural place of interest with a national importance.
It was mentioned in the written works of Georgi Akropolit and Teodor Skutariot (XIII century). It is one of the largest and highest fortress in the Rhodope Mountains and it has a protected area of over 50 decares. The outer fortress wall is built by broken stones joined together with white mortar and it follows the outlines of the rock wreathe. In some places the height of the wall is preserved to 7.80 m. The entrance is to the west and it is guarded by two rectangular towers. The citadel is situated at the highest eastern part of the hill. Along the wall there are solid bastions; two of them flank the entrance. When the fortress was built a special attention was paid to the water storage reservoirs and the food storehouses some of which have been archeologically studied. A military garnison was quartered in the fortress and the population from the settlements in the plain found shelter in it during military actions. Mneakos is related with the Crusade in 1206 which passed throug the inner part of the Rhodope Mountains. The chronicler of the Crusade marshal Geoffrey of Villehardouin wrote that in the beautiful and fruitful valley of the Art (Arda) River, at the foot of the mighty palace Moniak (Mineakos) the knights understood about the death of their emperor Baldwin of Flanders. The baron's council had their meeting there and during that meeting Henry was choosen to be the Emperor of the Latin Empire.
You can easy approach to the cache from the north, but if you like hiking, we recommend you ascent to the top from south. There you can see a very interesting bridge over the lake.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ybbx haqre gur ebpxf
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