"PLISKA" - the first capital city in 7th century

Pliska was the first capital during the 1st Bulgarian Dynasty (681-893) and was one of the largest cities in medieval Europe at the time. It belongs to the administrative district so-called ‘Shumen’ (corresponding to ‘province’ or ‘perfecture’), and its area is about 23 km².

There is a record that the name Pliska is derived from Pliskouba or Pliskoba, which means "sunny city" or "shining white city."

At first there was a wooden palace, but in 811, the palace was destroyed by fire during the invasion of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I. Therefore the Bulgarian king Khan Krum (reign 803-814) built a stone palace. The walls are quite high at 12m. Later in the early 9th century, they built official palace, residential palace, pagan temples, and many farm buildings. It can be seen that the construction technology at that time was highly developed, such as installing water system using clay and lead pipes and constructing a number of bathhouses.

In 864 Boris I (reign from 852 to 889) accepted Christianity, which had a great influence on the Bulgarian people. Many Christian temples were also built around Pliska, especially the cathedral Great Basilica, completed in 854, is a complex with a monastery.

Pliska was discovered by the Bulgarian archaeologist Karel Shkorpil, who has been excavating since 1899. Currently, it is selected as one of Bulgaria's top 100 national tourist attractions, and the Pliska National Museum of History and Archeology houses a large number of artifacts.