The Fortresses of Enidzhe Vardar in the Travelogue of Evliya Çelebi

The Fortresses of Enidzhe Vardar in the Travelogue of Evliya Çelebi – “Just a Legend” or a Heritage from Antiquity and the Middle Ages

Radoslav Hristoskov

The centre of the ancient Macedonian state of Philip II and Alexander II, the medieval Bulgarian metropolitan Slanitsa and the Ottoman city of Enidzhe Vardar, founded by the conqueror of the Southern Balkans, Evrenos Bey, were located in the Lower Vardar region in different eras. Evliya Çelebi's travelogue provides valuable information about the past of these lands, though it mixes real facts with mythic tales. A number of European travellers, such as William Leake, Emil Isambert, M. F. Karlova, Edward Lear, Johan Georg von Han, Stefan Verkovic and others followed in his footsteps and more or less confirmed his observations.