The Samuil’s fortress is situated on the right bank of the Strumeshnitsa river, 16 kilometers west of the town of Petrich.
At the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century AD, when the Bulgarian Empire, headed by tsar Samuil (reigned 997 – 1014) was at war with Byzantium, the defensive system of Klyuch was built on this place. A part of this system is the Samuil’s Fortress, which has a strategic place and was probably used as a command center by tsar Samuil.