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A little bit history about Bulgaria

Bulgaria’s name comes from the Bulgar people who arrived in the area around 200 AD. Early in the history of the area that is now Bulgaria, the land was settled by the Thracians.

From about 400 BC a race called the Thracians lived in parts of what is now Bulgaria. The Thracians were a tribal society and they were superb horsemen. They were also known for making beautiful gold and silver jewelry.

In 395 the Roman Empire split in two. The territory Bulgaria became part of the Eastern Roman Empire (later called the Byzantine Empire). However, Byzantium grew weaker and about 500 AD Slavs settled here.

In 680 the Bulgars invaded led by their ruler Khan Asparukh. They were descended from the Huns from Central Asia. They crossed the Danube and founded the state of Bulgaria. They then intermarried with the Slavs.

In 716 the Byzantine Empire recognized the state of Bulgaria.

However in the late 8th century, Emperor Constantine V tried to destroy Bulgaria – but without success. Then the pendulum swung the other way. From 809 Khan Krum attacked the Byzantine Empire. Led by Khan Krum the Bulgars were victorious. In 811 the Byzantine Emperor, Nicephorus was killed in battle. Krum had his skull covered in silver and used it for drinking. In 813 Krum even lay siege to Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium but he failed to capture it. Finally, in 816 Khan Omurtag made peace.

Then in 846 Boris I of Bulgaria accepted Christianity and his subjects followed. Bulgaria accepted the Eastern Orthodox Church rather than the western Catholic Church. n Bulgaria reached a peak under Simeon the Great 893-927. He called himself ‘Emperor of all the Bulgars and Greeks’. The pope recognized him!

Follow our guide,Dzhuneit, a student, to discover Bulgaria

PLISKA

Welcome in the town of Pliska which used to be the main political, military, economic and cultural centre from the foundation of the Bulgarian State in 681 till 893.

Pliska is also among the most impressive monuments of Medieval European town-planning. Situated at a crossroad amidst a vast plain of rolling hills, the first capital of the Bulgarian State was protected with strong fortress walls. The location of the city was not left to the blind chance. Being a people of the steppes, the ancient Bulgarians preferred level terrains to put up their camps and settlements. The defense fortifications comprised three rings.

The outermost was a deep and wide moat, the middle one - a rampart whose thick stone walls once rose up to 12 metres in some places, and the innermost - a fortress built up of clay bricks.

Researchers have found three stages in the development of the ancient Bulgarian capital.

Khan Kroum’s Palace was built on an area of 500 square metres and is a remarkable architectural monument of the first stage.

There were secret passages and tunnels for the inhabitants to leave the town in case of emergency. The Palace had its own big water reservoir and baths modern for that time.

The second stage marked the peak of town design and construction. That was the time when Khan Omourtag ruled. Dating back to that period are the fortress walls, the so-called Small Palace with houses for the members of the royal family, the new baths with an intricate heating system, two pagan shrines and the richly decorated Throne Hall.

The third construction stage includes early Christian buildings of worship with impressive size. The most impressive architectural monument of that time is the Grand Basilica. With its 2920 square metres it was the largest Christian church on the Balkan Peninsula for its time. The imposing three-nave basilica was 100 metres long and 30 metres wide. It was in the centre of a monastery complex of sophisticated architecture.

Pliska is the town where the Christian faith was adopted as an official religion of the Bulgarian people in the 9th century. In the year 886 Prince Boris I received here the disciples of the creators of the Slav Alphabet the brothers Cyril and Methodius.

Then Simeon I moved the Bulgarian capital from Pliska to Preslav in 893.

MADARA

Now, let's meet the Madara Horseman,

, depicting a horseman defeating a lion, is carved on a 100m high cliff near the village of Madara in northeastern Bulgaria. Madara was the first sacred place of the first Bulgarian Empire, before the conversion of Bulgaria in the 9th century. The inscriptions that appear next to this sculpture relate events that occurred between 705 and 831.

The remarkable rock relief from the Early Middle Ages is the only one of its kind in Europe. In 1979 it was included in the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage, and three decades later it was declared a global Bulgarian symbol by the national survey.

Scholars learned of the Madara Horseman for the first time only a few years before Bulgaria became independent. In 1872 the Hungarian traveler Felix Kanitz visited some places far from the main roads of the Ottoman Empire and one of them was Madara. He wrote in his book "Danube Bulgaria and the Balkan" that he noticed through field glasses Latin letters and the word "sever". This made him assume the relief was carved during the rule of the Roman Empire. F. Kanitz also made a drawing of the monument with parts of the text but when his book was published in 1878 the engraver changed it considerably, with many mistakes. Thus the first publication was responsible for some of the first mistakes in the interpretation of the relief and texts.

The eminent Czech historian Konstantin Irechek saw the Madara Horseman in 1884. He observed it, too, from a distance but correctly noticed that the texts are in Greek. At first he considered the rider to be a Thracian. However, a few years later two other Czech scholars who made great contributions to Bulgarian studies, the brothers Skorpil, erected a scaffolding and made a more detailed study of the relief. Irechek agreed with them that the texts are from the early Bulgarian pagan period.

So far, most supporters find the opinion that the horseman represents Khan Tervel or a generalized image of the rulers of Pliska. In this line of thought, it is perceived as a symbol of Bulgarian state power and a demonstration of the self-confidence of its rulers from the pagan period.

As a piece of art, the Madara relief — a climax in pagan Bulgarian art must be accepted as from the 9th century, an age when mediaeval Bulgarian society and state experienced an all-round boom in creating their own culture and art, in agreement with the traditions of the main ethnic components of the present-day Bulgarian people: Slavs, Thracians and Proto-Bulgarians.

The Madara Horseman is one of the examples showing the ways in which the culture and art of new-European peoples was formed: the Great Migration of Peoples breathed new life into Late Antiquity heritage and added to it the old but vital traditions of the barbarian new-comers who brought with them part of the culture.

To see absolutely, it is THE SYMBOL of Bulgaria, we are at the sources of the history of this country. Strange sculpture on a high wall that immerses us in European history and its multiple migrations. Immediately after, we want to delve into the history books and revise the Khanate of Bulgaria on the banks of the Volga.

The site is magnificent and there are a number of steps to reach the knight.