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63-410: The relief sculpture depicts a majestic horseman, approximately 23 m (75 ft) above ground level, carved into an almost vertical 100 m-high (328 ft) cliff. The sculpture is almost life-size. The horseman, facing right, is thrusting a spear into a lion lying at his horse's feet, and on the left a dog is running after the horseman. The carving of the horseman's halo and garments, as well as

126-492: A copperplate engraving from Hristofor Žefarović's Stemmatografia (1741), which depicts St. David, king of Bulgaria and St. Theoctistus. In the image of Saint Theoctistus, which is the monastic name of the Serbian king Stefan Dragutin , Paisius recognized King Trivelius or Tervel. Among other things, Paisius wrote about this Bulgarian ruler: This king Trivelius was the first to accept Christianity in 703 AD. After receiving

189-521: A horseman in the Paleo-Balkanic mythology . The motif typically features a caped horseman astride a steed, with a spear poised in his right hand. He is often depicted as slaying a beast with a spear, although this feature is sometime absent. Initially considered (and later abandoned) by Konstantin Josef Jireček and Karel Škorpil , this assumption was gradually rejected because of differences in

252-492: A large area. A few areas appear to have been inhabited by people who provided services or took part in craft production for the palace centre, and agriculture clearly took place within the earthen rampart around the Outer Town. There was clearly a fair amount of open ground inside the earthen rampart. Henning concludes that the settlement was initially built for military and strategic reasons, and could not really be considered

315-641: A large brick cistern that moved water from the Kriva river to the Inner Town via ceramic pipes. This cistern had attached rooms containing private baths. Only certain parts of the archaeological site of the city have been properly investigated. One of the most thoroughly researched is the Asar-dere area just to the west of the stone fortification surrounding the Inner Town. Four clay-made furnaces have been discovered in this area, suggesting that Pliska possessed

378-507: A monastery, his son Vladimir succeeded him and attempted to reestablish paganism. During this period (889–93) the large stone basilica at Pliska built under Boris was heavily damaged. Boris left his monastery to overthrow his son, and after succeeding, relocated the capital to the nearby town of Preslav which seems to have been a centre of Christianity in the state. Following this Pliska's relevance in Bulgar governance steadily declined until

441-485: A result of this defeat, the empire was forced to sign a treaty recognizing the Bulgar state in 681. Despite the area having been for some time under the de facto control of various Slavic tribes, the emperors of Byzantium had kept up the fiction that the area was still imperial, as up to 681 no true state had replaced imperial rule. This was the first time that the Byzantine empire officially acknowledged another state in

504-528: A royal church and as a national patriarchal cathedral , can be seen in the reserve. Under Ottoman rule, the village known as Pliska since 1947 was instead called Aboba (Ağa Baba in Ottoman times), a name which it kept until 1925, when the name was changed to Pliskov, a variant of the current name. The settlement has a population of 1,124 and is located 146 m above sea level in Shumen Province at

567-480: A specialized pottery making capabilities and an urban economy at some point during its development. Initially, such finds were interpreted to show that early on the settlement relied upon pastoral and agricultural activities, and later developed sophisticated craft techniques. This interpretation was further supported by the relatively late dating of the first occurrences of glazed ceramic ware found in Pliska. At

630-407: A typical city (with all of the associated trade, production, and population) until the period after Bulgaria converted to Christianity in 864/5. Most of the stone architecture in Pliska was built between this conversion and eventual Byzantine conquest of the city in 971. The buildings from this era show a clear Byzantine influence in their design and function. For example, a 4 kilometre-long canal fed

693-405: Is also the episode about his monasticism, but in no source before the " History of Paisius " his monastic name is mentioned, which is obviously an original construction of Paisius in order to connect Trivelius with the figure of Theoctistus from the " Stematographia ". In addition, it is important to emphasize that Paisius was aware of the fact that the Serbian king Dragutin received monasticism with

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756-679: Is named after the historic site of Madara. Pliska Pliska ( Bulgarian : Плиска [ˈpliskɐ] , Old Bulgarian : Пльсковъ , romanized:  Plĭskovŭ ) was the first capital of the First Bulgarian Empire during the Middle Ages and is now a small town in Shumen Province , on the Ludogorie plateau of the Danubian Plain , 20 km northeast of the provincial capital, Shumen . Pliska

819-486: Is sometimes considered that the horseman represents or is related to the Bulgar deity Tangra , while Vladimir Toporov related it to the Iranian deity Mithra . Still others have noted a simpler explanation: that the relief was intended to represent Khan Tervel (701–718 AD), or, once considered likely but now usually rejected, Khan Krum (802–814 AD). In 1924–1935, beneath the relief (some 250 m north) were found

882-511: Is striking that the " Zographic History " and " Slav-Bulgarian History ", which appeared almost simultaneously, are the first texts that mention King Trivelius, in general, in Balkan literature, which is not the case in Western literature, where he has been strongly present since the 16th century. In the western literature, which was apparently also a source for the mentioned Athonian monks, there

945-579: Is the work of Tervel (701–718 AD), thus it is considered that the relief was created during his rule or immediately after the Bulgars settled the region in 680–681 AD. The other inscriptions refer to the Khans Krum (802–814 AD) and Omurtag (814–831 AD), who are most likely the ones who ordered the carvings. Inscription I : Justinian the emperor made a treaty [...] the Bulgars [...] and came to Tervel . My uncles at Thessaloniki did not trust

1008-456: The Balkans . Pliska was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire between 681 and 893 AD. According to a Bulgarian chronicle, it was founded by Khan Asparuh . At its greatest extent, it had an area of 21.8 km (8.4 sq mi) and was surrounded by earthen ramparts. A smaller stone fortification was built inside these ramparts and this contained a palace and buildings belonging to

1071-619: The Black Sea . When Asparukh and his warriors entered the region south of the Danube, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IV was upset and led an army to prevent the Bulgars from remaining there. The Byzantine expedition against the Bulgars ended disastrously and after defeating the imperial forces, Asparukh forced the nearby Slavic tribes to pay tribute to him, while leaving their tribal organization intact. As

1134-628: The Dulo clan and reigned for 21 years. The testimony of the source and some later traditions allow identifying Tervel as the son of Asparukh . Tervel is first mentioned in the Byzantine sources in 704, when he was approached by the deposed and exiled Byzantine emperor Justinian II . Justinian acquired Tervel's support for an attempted restoration to the Byzantine throne in exchange for friendship, gifts, and his daughter in marriage. With an army of 15,000 horsemen provided by Tervel, Justinian suddenly advanced on Constantinople and managed to gain entrance into

1197-696: The Arabs engaged the Bulgars in battle but suffered a crushing defeat. According to Theophanes the Confessor , the Bulgars slaughtered some 22,000 Arabs in the battle. Shortly after, the Arabs raised the siege. In 719, Tervel again interfered in the internal affairs of the Byzantine Empire when the deposed emperor Anastasios II asked for his assistance to regain the throne. Tervel provided him with troops and 360,000 gold coins. Anastasios marched to Constantinople, but its population refused to cooperate. In

1260-401: The Asar-dere area of the archaeological site, it was believed that the craft activities attested by Milčev showed that site did not become a true large town until the later ninth or early tenth century, however Henning shows that this may have occurred in reverse order. Ceramic fragments on the floors of many of the pit-houses suggested (based on their depth in the soil) at first that the pottery

1323-515: The Bulgarian state was destroyed by the Byzantine general turned emperor (when he murdered the previous emperor Nikephoros Phokas ) John Tzimiskes . He defeated the Kyivan Rus' forces that had occupied Bulgaria and annexed the Bulgarian lands all the way to the Danube, ending the rule of the first Bulgarian state in these territories. During this Rus' and Byzantine war over Bulgaria, Pliska

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1386-426: The Bulgars had been nomadic prior to building their capital at Pliska, and when they began to cooperate with the local Slavs (which formed a strong majority of the new state's population) a mixed pastoral and agricultural economy developed. The Inner Town, which was likely built later in the settlement's existence, consisted of a palace, basilica and aristocratic buildings inside a stone fortification. The Inner Town

1449-581: The Confessor ascribes Tervel a role in an attempt to restore the deposed Emperor Anastasius II in 718 or 719. If Tervel had survived this long, he would have been the Bulgarian ruler who concluded a new treaty (confirming the annual tribute paid by the Byzantines to Bulgaria, the territorial concessions in Thrace, regulating commercial relations and the treating of political refugees) with Emperor Theodosius III in 716. However, elsewhere Theophanes records

1512-605: The First Bulgarian Empire. In 680 CE, Bulgars crossed the Danube and invaded lands now part of modern-day Bulgaria, which was at that time largely inhabited by Slavic farmers. The Bulgar army was led by Asparuh , who according to Byzantine chroniclers was one of the five sons of Kubrat , the Onogur chief who revolted against his Avar rulers and succeeded in uniting the various Bulgar groups living north of

1575-481: The architecture of his new ashlar palace, which descended from Late Antique prototypes like Diocletian's Palace at Split, Croatia . When Boris I ( r.  852–889 ) converted to Christianity in 864, the religious buildings of Pliska were adapted for Christian use and it was after this point that the Great Basilica was constructed, together with a monastery which was attached to it. The monastery

1638-438: The aristocracy. While Pliska experienced nearly a century of growth following its selection as the capital of the new Bulgarian state, this was not a peaceful era. The Bulgars and Byzantine Empire were in an almost constant state of war during the eighth century and into the early ninth. Emperor Constantine V oversaw nine campaigns against the Bulgars between 741 and 775, and Emperor Nikephoros I 's campaign in 811 resulted in

1701-422: The beginning of the 8th century. In 705 Emperor Justinian II named him caesar , the first foreigner to receive this title. He was raised a pagan like his grandfather Khan Kubrat , but was later possibly baptised by the Byzantine clergy. Tervel played an important role in defeating the Arabs during the siege of Constantinople in 717–718. The Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans states that Tervel belonged to

1764-499: The bird in front of the horseman's face, are barely recognizable due to centuries of erosion and the generally poor condition of the monument. The relief is similar to the carbon images found in Saltovo, Soulek, Pliska and Veliki Preslav . The meaning and symbolism of the sculpture is uncertain, as well as its actual masonry tradition and cultural source. The relief probably incorporates elements of both autochthonous Thracian and

1827-409: The burning of the royal residence in Pliska. In this last instance the emperor led a massive army to Pliska in retaliation for the Bulgarian capture of Sardika and massacre of its garrison that occurred in an earlier set of hostilities. The Bulgarian leader Krum was not prepared to face the emperor's army and thus abandoned Pliska and the Byzantines plundered the palace and town there and burned it to

1890-455: The city in 705. The restored emperor executed his supplanters, the emperors Leontius and Tiberius III , alongside many of their supporters. Justinian awarded Tervel with many gifts, the title of kaisar ( caesar ), which made him second only to the emperor and the first foreign ruler in Byzantine history to receive such a title, and a territorial concession in northeastern Thrace , a region called Zagora . Whether Justinian's daughter Anastasia

1953-451: The decades immediately after 681. When the earthen rampart was built, Pliska had a very low population. Dimitrov's map based on the 1989 to 1991 dredging works in the Outer Town suggests that there were no more than six to twelve hamlet sized settlements there, while there might have been thirty or so by the tenth century. There is however still no plausible explanation for why the earthen rampart and ditch built around Pliska encircled such

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2016-555: The early 9th century, Pliska was surrounded by a defensive wall and 2,300 hectares (5,700 acres) of land was further enclosed by an outer earthwork with stone revetment 21 kilometres (13 miles) long. After the Byzantine army sacked and burned Pliska in 811, led by the emperor Nikephoros I ( r.  802–811 ), Pliska was rebuilt by Omurtag ( r.  814–831 ), who used spolia from nearby Roman buildings and employing late Roman-inspired rectilinear and basilica plans in

2079-470: The emperor sent to the ruler [...] and asked the ruler Krumesis [...] the ruler [...] divided the gold [...] began [...] he gave from [...] the ruler Krumesis gave [...] that sea [...] you did [...] the ruler [...] war they tore the treaties [...] war [...] then [...] name [...] Inscription III : [...] he was raised [...] tore and Omurtag the ruler set by god sent [...] help to me [...] Inscription IV : Khan sybigi Omurtag, ruler from god [...]

2142-509: The emperor with the cut-off nose and went back to the Kisiniie [...] one of his [...] The ruler Tervel made a treaty and gave to the emperor five thousand [...] with my help the emperor scored a fine victory. Inscription II : [...] gold. He gave eighteen [...] gold the ruler [...] soldiers [...] a ruler [...] the Greeks (Byzantines) [...] what I gave to you, I will give you every year, and

2205-524: The ground as it was largely at this time made of wood. Soon after, the invaders were driven out by Khan Krum (see Battle of Pliska ). Later in the ninth century, during the reign of Boris I , the pagan temples in Pliska likely began to be converted to Christian churches. In 886, Boris founded the Pliska Literary School which was moved to Preslav when Boris later relocated the capital. When Boris fell seriously ill and retired to

2268-523: The holy faith, he had great piety and devotion to Christ. Because of this, he built a monastery for himself and voluntarily left the kingdom [...] and then took on the monastic rank. [...] His monastic name was Theoctist. " Zographic History " (1760's) will even try to locate the monastery of St. Teoctist close to Ohrid , and the hieromonk Spiridon Gabrovski in his " Istoriya " from 1792, points out that in Ohrid "in his monastery until today lie his relics". It

2331-423: The house of Nemanjic was conceived as a kind of propaganda political memorandum, and was sent as a congratulatory message to Empress Maria Theresa on the occasion of her ascension to the throne. Seventeen holy figures are represented on the copperplate. In the second row of saints, Saint Theoctistus is represented, with clearly written signatures. All the characters presented, without exception, find their analogy in

2394-586: The iconographic details, and the relation with the animals (there's no dog). Many scholars connect the origin of the relief with the ethnogenesis of the Bulgars , a semi-nomadic equestrian warrior culture from the Eurasian Steppe . Others have seen in the relief a resemblance to the Sasanian rock relief tradition. The hero-horseman is a common character of Turkic and Iranian-Alanic mythology. It

2457-490: The meantime Leo III sent a letter to Tervel in which he urged him to respect the treaty and to prefer peace to war. Because Anastasios was abandoned by his supporters, the Bulgarian ruler agreed to Leo III's pleas and broke relations with the usurper. He also sent Leo III many of the conspirators who had sought refuge in Pliska . In his Slav-Bulgarian History (1762), Paisius of Hilendar interprets Tervel's character based on

2520-541: The name Theoctistus, so it is even more surprising that he connected the figure of the monk Theoctistus from the " Stematographia " with the Bulgarian ruler Trivelius. Another copperplate engraving by Žefarović from the same year 1741, which was made just a few months before the publication of the " Stemmatografia ", is particularly useful for identifying the image of St. Theoctistus from the Stematography. This copperplate depicting Saint Sava with Serbian saints from

2583-428: The name of the Bulgarian ruler who concluded the treaty of 716 as Kormesios , i.e., Tervel's eventual successor Kormesiy . It is probable that the chronicler ascribed the events of 718 or 719 to Tervel simply because this was the last name of a Bulgar ruler that he was familiar with, and that his sources had been silent about the name, as in his account of the siege of Constantinople. According to another theory Kermesios

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2646-459: The newly arrived Bulgars' particular cults. The monumental size and iconography, and many of the specific details (stirrup, halo, skull-cup, bird, etc.) are generally part of Bulgar tradition, while the rightward direction and the lion are more typical of Thracian tradition. Some early researchers have considered it an example of the Thracian horseman – a recurring motif of a deity in the form of

2709-565: The pit-houses, meaning it may not have been built in AD 864 as long supposed, but instead as late as the later tenth century. The ruins of the city of Pliska lie 3 km north of the modern village of Pliska. The site of the city is currently a National Archaeological Reserve. Ruins of the Great and the Small Palace, the strong stone fortifications and the Great Basilica (c. 875), used both as

2772-436: The pottery between the 8th and the 10th centuries. Some argue that the earliest buildings were founded after the conversion to Christianity. Thus the pagan temple (i.e. church) and the building would have been built on an early Byzantine basilica. To the west of the building was found evidence of a Christian burial, with a golden decorated belt, dated c. 900 AD. Later in the 20th century, two miles (c. 3.2 km) northeast from

2835-599: The rebel emperor Philippicus , Justinian was captured and executed, while his Bulgarian allies were allowed to retire to their country. Tervel took advantage of the disorders in Byzantium and raided Thrace in 712, plundering as far as the vicinity of Constantinople. Given the chronological information of the Imennik , Tervel would have died in 715. However, the Byzantine Chronicler Theophanes

2898-489: The relief was found another group of buildings consisting of a 5th–6th century basilica with inner rectangular structure, which some have interpreted as the pagan temple (though without clear evidence). Three partially preserved texts in Medieval Greek , carved in the rock, can be found around the image of the rider. They bear important information regarding the history of Bulgaria in the period. The oldest inscription

2961-417: The remnants of a complex believed to have served as a pagan shrine (three-aisled church) and a rectangular building, probably the ruler's private dwelling, where the ruler did sacral rituals related to Tangra. At the site was also found a damaged inscription by Khan Omurtag which mentions the deity Tangra. The complex is commonly dated to the second quarter of the ninth century, as the 1970s excavations dated

3024-420: The saints from the house of Nemanja, so such an analogy should be sought for the character of Saint Theoctist. The interpretations by Paisius, by analogy and without critical analysis, will be taken up in the later Bulgarian literature and will create a fictitious and until then non-existent saint cult, which will be reflected in the paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries. Tervel Peak on Livingston Island in

3087-534: The same year the Arabs, led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik , crossed the Dardanelles and besieged Constantinople with a large army and navy. Leo III made a plea to Tervel for help, relying on the treaty of 716, and Tervel agreed. The first clash between the Bulgars and the Arabs ended with a Bulgar victory. During the very first stages of the siege the Bulgars appeared in the Muslim rear and large part of their army

3150-414: The settlement's history. Other finds from this first phase of occupation (from the eighth until the beginning of the ninth century) include those connected with iron processing, such as slag, charcoal, ash, and pig iron. Fragments and solid droplets of glass suggest glassmaking are also found from this same period. These types of finds are not extant in this area in the tenth and eleventh centuries, when it

3213-415: The south end of the Ludogorie plateau. It is approximately 400 km northeast of Sofia , at 43°22′N 27°7′E  /  43.367°N 27.117°E  / 43.367; 27.117 . Tervel of Bulgaria Khan Tervel ( Bulgarian : Тервел ) also called Tarvel , or Terval , or Terbelis in some Byzantine sources, was the khan of Bulgaria during the First Bulgarian Empire at

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3276-405: The very earliest these came from the late ninth century, though some certainly dated from the tenth and eleventh centuries as well. However, more recent investigation of the Asar-dere area has shown that the area contained a large waste disposal site alongside multiple hearths and kilns all dating from the earliest occupation phase. The content of the waste shows that ceramics were produced early in

3339-574: Was [...] and made sacrifice to god Tangra [...] itchurgu boila [...] gold [...] The Madara Rider is depicted on the obverse of smaller Bulgarian coins (1 to 50 stotinki ) issued in 1999 and 2000. A June 29, 2008, official survey on the design of Bulgaria's future euro coins was won by the Madara Horseman with 25.44 percent of the votes. Madara Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands , Antarctica

3402-516: Was authorized by Tervel to sign the treaty. Most researches agree that it was during the time of Tervel when the famous rock relief the Madara Rider was created as a memorial to the victories over the Byzantines, to honour his father Asparukh and as an expression of the glory of the Bulgarian state. On 25 May 717, Leo III the Isaurian was crowned Emperor of Byzantium. During the summer of

3465-537: Was destroyed and the rest were trapped. The Arabs built two trenches around their camp facing the Bulgarian army and the walls of the city . They persisted with the siege despite the severe winter with 100 days of snowfall. In the spring, the Byzantine navy destroyed the Arab fleets that had arrived with new provisions and equipment, while a Byzantine army defeated Arab reinforcements in Bithynia . Finally, in early summer

3528-479: Was destroyed between 969 and 972 and was not rebuilt. The construction of an earthen rampart was started shortly after the Bulgars settled in the Pliska plain (it has been suggested that these embankments may not have been built all at once), and the territory inside of this is known as the Outer Town, which consisted of multiple groupings of modest cottages with space in between for flocks of livestock and horses. This seemingly unusual layout may have been chosen as

3591-488: Was home to the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius . After the tsar Simeon I founded his new capital at Preslav , Pliska was slowly abandoned. Pliska ( Medieval Greek : Πλίσκοβα , romanized :  Plískova ) was captured at the turn of the 2nd millennium by Theodorokanos and Nikephoros Xiphias , during the campaigns of the emperor Basil the Bulgar-Slayer ( r.  960–1025 ), which ended

3654-442: Was instead occupied by numerous small and primitive grubenhaus dwellings. According to Henning; “It was not the case that a predominantly agricultural style of living opened the way to a stepwise growth in craft activities, but rather a situation of fully developed and highly specialized artisan production was followed later by a process of broad ruralization”. Some scholars, such as Georgiev and Kirilov, have proposed that Pliska

3717-408: Was made and those houses were occupied in the later occupation period of the settlement. Excavation of the pit-house designated "grubenhaus No. 8" however precipitated a sharp conceptual turn amongst many researchers towards the belief that the pit-houses may largely have been built much earlier, and this suggests that the famous Great Basilica may have been built after rather than before the majority of

3780-611: Was married to Tervel as had been arranged is unknown. Only three years later, however, when Justinian II consolidated his throne he violated this arrangement and commenced military operations to recover the ceded area but Khan Tervel routed the Byzantines at the Battle of Anchialus (near present-day Pomorie ) in 708. In 711, faced by a serious revolt in Asia Minor , Justinian again sought the aid of Tervel, but obtained only lukewarm support manifested in an army of 3,000. Outmaneuvered by

3843-458: Was not in fact the capital of Bulgaria during this period at all. Georgiev suggests that Pliska was only a seasonal residence with small timber buildings at least until the middle of the eighth century. Kirilov offers the explanation that like the Ottonian kings , the Bulgar rulers were itinerant, and travelled between multiple different residences. Additionally, prior to some more recent finds in

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3906-499: Was surrounded by the Outer Town which was in turn surrounded by the earthen rampart. Overall, far less is known about the layout and contents of Pliska prior to the conversion to Christianity than afterwards. No stone buildings have been dated with certainty from before the Bulgars converted to Christianity in 864/5, and many wooden buildings (which were initially presumed to have come from the pagan era) also appear to have been built later on. It's not clear which buildings were built in

3969-416: Was the first capital of Bulgaria. According to legend, it was founded by Asparuh of Bulgaria in the late 7th century; this legend is archaeologically unsubstantiated. The site was originally an encampment, with the first tent-shaped buildings at Pliska of uncertain date. No evidence exists of a settlement before the 9th century, and claims that the site dates from Late Antiquity have been contested. By

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