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Discover Ancient Bulgaria

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Bulgarian people created from antiquity to present days




Bulgaria's History topics related to 'Kingdom of Bulgaria'

The architectural monument – obelisk of the perished during the Balkan War in the year 1912 was erected in 1941 at the Sheinovec peak, in the land between the villages of Valche Pole and Malko Gradishte.

The peak itself is connected to the beginning of the Balkan War in 1912. According to the Bulgarian secret services, on October 4, 1912, the Ottoman battalion on the Kurtkale peak numbered around 100 soldiers and two more small brigades were situated nearby. Commanding authorities of the Bulgarian military were preparing for an assault on the peak with the aim of seizing it, since the place is convenient for scanning the valleys of the Arda and Maritsa rivers and the Edirne Valley. Access to the peak is exceptionally difficult. The slopes from the south and northwest descend vertically and are inaccessible, while the eastern slope is rocky and steep. Climbing to the top was possible only via one path, meandering between the rocks and bushes.


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The Battle of Pliska took place on July 26, 811, between the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria, resulting in one of the worst defeats in Byzantine history.

Battle of Pliska between the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria

When Nicephorus I became emperor in 802, he planned to reincorporate Bulgar-held territory back into the empire. In 809, he sacked Pliska, the Bulgar capital, and although he did not launch a major military expedition against them, he settled many Anatolian families in the area. In 811, he gathered a larger army from the Anatolian and European themata, and the imperial bodyguard (the tagmata). The reconquest was supposed to be easy, and a number of high-ranking officials and aristocrats accompanied him, including his son Stauracius.

The army gathered in May, and by July 10 had set up camp at the Bulgarian frontier. Nicephorus intended to confuse them and over the next ten days launched several supposed attacks, which were immediately called back. The Bulgarians, meanwhile, gathered their own forces. On July 20 Nicephorus divided the army into three columns, each marching by a different route towards Pliska, where he defeated the defenders and took the city on July 23. The city was sacked and the countryside destroyed. The Bulgarian khan Krum wanted to negotiate a peace but Nicephorus ignored him and continued his march to Serdica, confident that the Bulgars had no chance of success against him.
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Pliska the capital of First Bulgarian Kingdom
Pliska was the first capital of the First Bulgarian Kingdom (681-893 AD) . Pliska’s ruins lie 3 km north of today’s village of Pliska. Its name was mentioned in many resources most significant of which are the Bulgarian apocryphal chronicle from XI c. AD as the town of Plyuska founded by Asparuh Khan, the Byzantine authors George Cedrin, John Zonara, Anna Komnina as Pliskusa. The town had area of 23 km2 and was surrounded by 21 km long defensive line built up of moat and rampart. The Inner town had area of 0.5 km2 rectangular shape and had 2.6 m thick and about 12 m high fortress walls, cylindrical towers at each corner, and two other towers at each wall.
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