Tsepina (Bulgarian: Цепина) or Tzepaina (Greek: Τζέπαινα) was a castle and town in the western Rhodope mountains, southern Bulgaria, now in ruins.

[2] Remnants of pottery from the 4th–6th century and houses and a large three-aisled church in the area of the citadel point to a settlement during early Byzantine times.

The other buildings and pottery found on the site date to the 12th–14th centuries, when the fortress was repeatedly fought over between the Byzantines and Bulgarians due to its strategic location.

[2] During the reign of the Bulgarian emperor Kaloyan (1197–1207), the fortress was the residence of his nephew, the despot Alexius Slav.

[4] Soon after that it was abandoned by its inhabitants and fell into ruin, although one of the churches continued to be used until the 17th century, possibly as part of a monastery (whence the local names Metoha, 'metochion', or Manastirat, 'monastery', for the settlement).