In one of the most ancient Bulgarian towns, Veliko Tarnovo, archeologists will always find what to do. The town has a very rich history dating back to Antiquity and spreading to modern days. The most remarkable period in the town’s history is the time when it was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. This period was between 1187 and 1393 after the almost two centuries of Byzantine rule on Bulgarian lands and before the invasion of the Ottoman Empire. This was Veliko Tarnovo’s Golden Age. Built upon three hills - Tsarevets, Trapezitsa and Momina Krepost, thw town was heavily fortified and had a numerous population for the medieval times. A palace and the Cathedral of the Bulgarian Patriarchate were erected on Tsarevets Hill. Tens of churches were built in the town for ordinary citizens. An artistic and literary school originated in the town and gave birth to magnificent murals, literary works and brilliant examples of calligraphy.
The first archeological excavations in the Medieval Bulgarian capital started a hundred years ago. Tsarevets Hill has received the greatest attention by archeologists for logical reasons. Trapezitsa Hill, however, which is less studied and excavated, still hides many secrets. Last year, several teams of archeologists worked on Trapesitsa Hill. The leader of the team who was studying the southwestern part of Trapesitsa Hill is Konstantin Dochev, PhD in Archeology. According to him, the excavations show that Trapesitsa Fortress was being prepared to become a military residence of the Byzantine administration during the Byzantine rule and had a special military garrison. It performed the same function during the rule of Bulgarian kings until 1280, and afterwards it turned into a civil, ecclesiastical and pilgrimage quarter.
“Trapesitsa was the military citadel of the new capital town with its own military strategist while the Bulgarian kings were building the palace and the patriarchate on Tsarevets Hill”, archeologist Konstantin Dochev says. “The finds are very interesting. This fortress was built very solidly. This is the first fortress where a preliminary geological prospecting has been made. At the same time, the construction of the whole fortress is unique: with draining canals, with water collection shafts, monolithic fortress walls and towers. Last year, we discovered a new gate at the fortress wall. The wall is to be restored. Unfortunately, our predecessors living after the Liberation from the Ottoman rule in 1878 took many stones from the wall to build their houses but even so, we still have some well-preserved sections of the wall which will make the work of restoration experts much easier.”
As to the gate itself, the passage to it is paved with cobblestone, and in the middle, there is a draining canal for the rainwater. The fortress wall on both sides of the gate is almost 3 meters thick. A photograph of the medieval masonry can be seen at the exhibition entitled “Bulgarian Archeology 2009” that was opened in Sofia a few days ago.
At the same exhibition, the excavation work of the team of archeologists Nikolay Ovcharov and Hitko Vachev done in Veliko Tarnovo was presented. They made archeological studies in the monastery complex of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and the adjoining St Ivan Rilski Church.
“In 2008, we came to the conclusion that there must be a very rich necropolis there because we found a gold ring and several silver rings”, archeologist Nikolay Ovcharov says. “In 2009, this was completely proven. We found more than 100 graves testifying to the splendour of the Bulgarian noblemen from the 13th and 14th century and also of the well-off citizens in the period between the 15th and 18th centuries. Obviously, this monastery was very rich and it was a token of social status to be being buried. We also found there more than 600 various objects as well as 600 coins, some of them very rare and even unique coins. Among the jewelry displayed at the exhibition, there are almost 30 rings from that necropolis. Three of them are made of gold, the rest are made of silver, with precious and semi-precious stones, and inscriptions on them. One of the most interesting finds was a very rich burial of a young woman from the first half of the 14th century. We called her the Tarnovo Princess because we unearthed remains of gold-woven clothes, gold earrings, a gold ring with amethyst and silver needles in a cloth that has not been preserved. The garments, however, can be restored. Amid the rings there is one very interesting ring, most probably made in France in the 18th century. Perhaps the ring was imported in Bulgaria at the time of the intensified exchange following the Fourth Crusade”, Nikolay Ovcharov says.
Another interesting relic found by the team of archeologists last summer is a fragment of a gilded silver casing for a manuscript dating back to the 14th century with the image of an archangel and an inscription above his head. The casing amazes the spectator with its exquisiteness and with the silver needle with a gold bird and a pearl above it. The jewel was once used as an adornment by a Tarnovo noblewoman. Another interesting finding is a massive gold ring dating back to the 14th century and having an engraved stone with the image of the Roman God Mars. It dates back to the 3rd century, from the Roman period in Veliko Tarnovo history. This was the manner in which our ancestors demonstrated their veneration for the art of antiquity.
Translated by: Rossitsa Petcova
