Architecture of the First Bulgarian Kingdom

The first Bulgarian capital Pliska was situated approximately 25 kilometers from the nowadays city of Shumen. Its security system consists of three concentric belts: land rampart, stone keep wall and inner brick wall. The land rampart outlines the so called outer city with a size of about 25 hectares. Until nowadays more than 30 buildings are discovered. Close to the outer city was discovered a monastery, in which is the biggest church building – The Great Basilisk. The temple is with size 99/29, 50 meters. Its plan scheme is from a classical three-shipped basilisk. There is also an atrium sized almost as the size of the naos, with colonnades on the long sides. The narthex is three typed, narrow, embracing the whole size of the temple. Its partitions meet the necessities of the Byzantine churchyard ritual. It is separated on two rows of columns in three parts.
The altar is from three parts, with three absides. Most probably towers were rising over the protesis and dyakonikon. The sizes and the elements of the plan-scheme both make the temple a classical example for early medieval basilisk-typed church. Some of the explorers say that, it was one of the seven fair churches, risen according to the chronicles form kniaz Boris I, after claiming the Christianity an official religion in 865 year. The stone wall encloses “the inner city”. Inside were placed the throne hall, the place’s church and rich houses. The brick wall forms a rectangle yard where the palaces of the Bulgarian rulers are situated. The big castle is with size 56/26, 50 meters, in rectangle-kind and built over a significantly bigger and older building(the so-called castle of Khan Krum). The fragments found from columns, capital and other architectural and decorative details allow us to conclude, that the building was monumental and richly decorated. The little palace was used form the khan and his family.
Veliki Preslav
The second capital of the First Bulgarian Kingdom is situated next to river Ticha, where during the time of khan Omurtag was built a castle and a keep. It was established during the time of tzar Simeon (893 – 927) when Bulgaria is in its ascend in political and cultural way. The keep of Preslav, similarly to Pliska consists of inner and outer defence system. The inner keep is located almost in the center of the Outer city. Its firm is G-sized, with round towers in the corners and square towers on the walls. The castles were built over a high plateau. There are impressive remains from castle complex, consisting of two monumental buildings: Big castle built by solid stone blocks and Western castle. The throne hall was three-shipped and had also three parts. The remains confirm the description of Ioan Ekzarh, which speaks for the rich architecture of the castles. “The golden church” was a marvelous monument, unique by its kind, of the church architecture of the First Bulgarian Kingdom situated on a high terrace next to the castles of Veliki Preslav. The plan scheme shows us a central rotunda, rectangle narthex with two round towers and wide atrium, surrounded by columns. The rotunda with diameter 10, 50 meters have deep, semi-round absida. The pulpit is in the center of the building, just under the dome. The walls are deferred from 12 semi-half fibres, in front of which 12 monolith marble columns are rising. The extraordinary scheme, the free combination of the inner and outer walls, the consequence in grouping the elements and the art of painting reveal the ascend of the Bulgarian architecture from the “golden ages”. According to the chronicles two of the seven cathedral temples, which tzar Boris I ordered to be built after the official conversion of the country, were in the western Bulgarian lands. There we suggestions that these are the temples “St.Achiles” on the Prespansko lake and “St.Sofia” in Ohrid. Both monuments have a life of decades and can be counted to the architecture of The First and The Second Bulgarian Kingdoms. The church devoted to St.Achiles is built on an island in the lake and reminds of the big basilisks from 5th and 6th centuries, with their plan scheme and stylistics. Its size is 48/23 meters, three-shipped with longitudinally spread narthex. The middle ship is almost two times wider than the rear ones separated with massive columns from them. The central absidys is ending of the middle ship and the protesis and diaconicon are formed as separate dome rooms with absidys, connected with the bema with holes on the walls. The cover of the other parts was wooden. Indefinitely and disputable is the dating of the fairy church of Ohrid “St.Sofia”. There are three main periods in its building. The last researches and restoration works reveal three-shipped basilisk with three absidys, the middle ones with overarched, cross bare, inner narthex and second, similar ekzonarthex, flanked by two towers, which end in superb way the western facade. The columns which separate the three ships are unevenly remoted which prompts us the existence of cross ship and a dome over the central field. The period of the first kingdom is characteristic with the building of great number of monasteries. It ends at 1018 year when The Western Bulgarian Kingdom falls under the Byzantines. The time of the Byzantine dominion gives to the Bulgarian architectural inheritance one of the biggest monasteries – Bachkovski – with the saved form this period church-tomb, the church in the monastery in Zemen, churches and chapels next to the nowadays city of Asenovgrad, but does not change the already outlined course of the Bulgarian architectural development.