Into the Tsar's residence: geophysical survey of the early medieval Bulgarian capital of Veliki Preslav

Abstract

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.