Pliska
Town in Shumen, Bulgaria / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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
Плиска | |
---|---|
Town | |
Coordinates: 43.387°N 27.132°E / 43.387; 27.132 | |
Country | Bulgaria |
Province | Shumen |
Municipality | Kaspichan |
Government | |
• Mayor | Milena Nedeva (GERB) |
Area | |
• Total | 34.356 km2 (13.265 sq mi) |
Elevation | 145 m (476 ft) |
Population (2015) | |
• Total | 1,016 |
• Density | 30/km2 (77/sq mi) |
Pliska 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.[1] The site was originally an encampment, with the first tent-shaped buildings at Pliska of uncertain date.[1] No evidence exists of a settlement before the 9th century, and claims that the site dates from Late Antiquity have been contested.[2]
By 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.[1] 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 the architecture of his new ashlar palace, which descended from Late Antique prototypes like Diocletian's Palace at Split, Croatia.[1] 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.[1] The monastery was home to the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius.[1]
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 the First Bulgarian Empire.[1]