Residential and Defensive Towers During the Ottoman Period: Historiographical and Chronological Challenges

Residential-defensive towers are structures that obviously combine two main functions – residential and defensive – thus providing reliable protection from attackers while ensuring acceptable conditions for long-term habitation. This type of building began to appear in the Bulgarian lands as early as the 10th–11th centuries, became more widespread during the 13th and 14th centuries, and remained in use throughout the entire Ottoman period. Such towers are also found in other Ottoman territories in the Balkans. In their development, residential-defensive towers show a clear evolution – from initially strictly utilitarian buildings to more representative and comfortable structures by the end of the Ottoman period. To a large extent, the topic remains understudied in Bulgarian historical scholarship and has not been the subject of in-depth interpretation or systematic analysis. Research in this field is carried out mainly by architects with an interest in the history of architecture in the Bulgarian lands. As far as residential-defensive towers in the Ottoman period are concerned, the historiography is very limited and there are no comprehensive scholarly works on the subject. For individual surviving sites, however, relatively good information is available. Examples include the towers in the villages of Toshevo (Hadzhidimovo Municipality) and Ledenik (Veliko Tarnovo Municipality), which have been archaeologically studied and whose results have been published. Only in these cases can we speak of reliable dating based on specific finds – the 15th century for the tower in Toshevo and the second half of the 16th century for the tower in Ledenik. For most of the remaining sites, dating is very general and based on unclear arguments. There are also towers that have been described only briefly in local historical studies, a typical example being the one in the village of Konyovo (Nova Zagora Municipality). The limited historiography further deepens the problem of dating the towers that have survived to the present day. This creates difficulties in placing them within a precise historical context and leaves room for broad interpretations. It should also be noted that some of these structures are in poor condition, which makes their study particularly urgent. Examples of neglected sites include the towers in Etropole and in the village of Belashtitsa (Rodopi Municipality). At present, at least nine residential-defensive towers have been preserved in the territory of Bulgaria, while for three others, destroyed during the 20th century, there are relatively good descriptions, including records of their external appearance. The topic requires further research by Bulgarian historical and archaeological scholarship.