2023/02/01 by Peter Milo, Petar Dimitrov, Mariya Manolova-Voykova +3 · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies #Byzantine Studies and History #Eurasian Exchange Networks
paper · pdf · doi:10.15184/aqy.2022.174
openalex publication_date 2023/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
During the late first millennium AD, the Bulgarian Empire emerged in the eastern Balkans on the doorstep of the Byzantine Empire. In a bid to reconcile with—and impress—its powerful neighbour, Tsar Simeon I selected the fortified site of Veliki Preslav as a new capital city. Through the ninth and tenth centuries AD, the city was developed into one of the largest cities of the early Middle Ages in Europe. A fortified Inner City of palaces, churches and state buildings was accompanied by a large defended Outer City. The authors present the results of a recent geophysical survey, revealing patterning in the spatial and socio-economic organisation of the urban landscape between the ninth and fourteenth centuries AD.