Generations of Bulgarians are proud of the triumph of Tsar Ivan Asen II /1218 – 1241/ near the Haskovo village of Klokotnitsa. Here our great ruler crushed to dust the numerous army of the Epirus despot Theodore Komnenos, who set out to plunder Bulgarian land despite the peace treaty. The foreigner was so sure of his victory that he took his entire family and a group of courtiers on the campaign. In the early hours of March 9, 1230 /the day of St. 40 martyrs/ the two warring armies met near the Klokotnitsa River, 10 km west of Haskovo. To protect his smaller army of Bulgarians and Cumans, Ivan Asen II ordered the parchment with the violated peace treaty to be impaled on a spear.
In the ensuing battle, the Bulgarian king showed cunning and excellent military tactics and put the Romans and Frankish knights - mercenaries - to flight. Theodore Comnenus himself was captured along with his sons and daughters.
The victor ordered the highest prisoners to be taken to the capital, and the captured ordinary soldiers to be fed and released to their homes. Because of his unheard-of nobility and humanity, Tsar Ivan Asen II was honored and loved "not only by the Bulgarians, but also by the Romans and other peoples" - wrote the Byzantine chronicler Georgi Akropolite.
According to a legend, wounded Bulgarian soldiers were treated near today's Haskovo mineral baths. Part of the local folklore is the great festival “Bansko odushe”, which is said to have been held for centuries in memory of those who died in the battle of Klokotnitsa.
Even today, those traveling on the E - 80 highway can see the bronze bas-relief of Ivan Asen II, erected near the historical site to commemorate his great victory near Haskovo.
The victory at Klokotnitsa is the most brilliant in medieval Bulgarian history, combining total tactical superiority over the enemy with long-term strategic and political consequences, many times surpassing the results of the Varbishki Pass, Aheloy or Edirne. The success that followed two years later against the Hungarians in the Branichev region cemented Bulgaria as a primary Balkan power, of whose neighbors John II Asen would calmly declare that “they obeyed under the hand [scepter] of my kingdom, because they had no other king but me and thanks to me they spent their days…“ (Tarnovo inscription)