Hall 3 – The Bulgarian State in the Middle Ages, 7th–14th centuries

Към Експозиция и изложби
Планирай посещение

The exhibition in Hall III is dedicated to medieval Bulgarian history and culture: The emergence of Bulgarian statehood in the Northern Black Sea steppes. The “transfer” and establishment of state-building traditions in the Lower Danube region. The strengthening of the state in the 10th century and its decline in the early 11th century. Recovery at the end of the 12th century. Stabilization and prosperity over the next two centuries until the Ottoman invasion in the second half of the 14th century.

The dawn of the Bulgarian statehood is in the area of the Northern Black Sea steppes, when in 632 Khan Kubrat (632–665) rejected his dependence on the Western Turkic Khaganate and founded Great Bulgaria. The first highlight of the exhibition is nine replicas of the treasure from the village of Malaya Pereshchepina, identified as inventory from the grave of the first Bulgarian ruler.

The pressure exerted by the Khazars in the 70s of the 7th century led to the Proto-Bulgarian diaspora, part of which conquered the Byzantine provinces of Little Scythia and Lower Moesia and established the Bulgarian Khanate on the Lower Danube (681–864). The Slavic tribes that had settled here earlier retained relative independence, and the Proto-Bulgarian hereditary aristocracy, with which the elite culture of the pagan period was associated, was the bearer of the state-building tradition. First and foremost, these are the representative wooden, and later stone, palace and temple buildings in the capital Pliska, the luxurious tableware used at the khan’s table for the distinguished people, representative belt sets and jewelry decorated in the fashionable style of the era, “Vrap-Velino” or “prachici-lastari,” medallions with the image of the ruler Khan Omurtag, probably distributed for the merits of notable representatives of Old Bulgarian society. The folk culture of the ordinary population, who lived in dwellings dug into the ground in fortified or unfortified settlements, is represented by artifacts used in everyday life: kitchen utensils made of sandy clay, handmade or on a slow wheel, tableware—jugs, bowls, amphora-shaped jugs made of purified gray, yellow, or red clay after firing, knives, spindle whorls, fire strikers, needle holders with needles preserved in them, and whetstones. Simple clothing accessories are also presented – glass or clay beads, earrings, medallions and amulets, discovered during the excavation of the necropolises near Balchik, the village of Topola, Dobrich, and the village of Dibich, Shumen, as well as “Penkovka” type vessels from Yakimovo and Kozloduy.

Scroll to Top