Veliki Preslav

Preslav replaced Pliska as capital in 893 and was built as a deliberate statement: a walled inner city with a palace, workshops and churches, surrounded by an outer town, and its most celebrated building was the Round Church, also called the Golden Church, a rotunda with a circular nave ringed by columns, an atrium and a narthex, decorated with marble, mosaic and gilding, of which the plan and lower walls survive. The site is also known for its ceramics: a workshop here produced painted glazed ceramic tiles and icons of a quality found nowhere else at the date, and the museum holds a substantial collection of them, including a reassembled icon of Saint Theodore. The Preslav treasure of gold and silver jewellery is also displayed.

What you actually see

• The Round Church plan - the rotunda with its ringed columns and atrium.
• Painted ceramic icons - the tiles produced by the Preslav workshops.
• The Preslav treasure - gold and silver jewellery in the museum.
• Inner city walls and palace - the fabric of the second capital.

When to go

April to October; the museum is open year round. Two to three hours for the site and museum together. There is little shade on the site. Mornings are better in summer.

Honest expectations

The site is at foundation and low wall level. The Round Church is a plan rather than a building. Interpretation on the ground is limited; the museum carries the visit. Distances between the museum and the site require a short drive or walk.

Nearby

Pliska is north-east; Shumen and its monument lie north.