Trapezitsa (fortress)

The first fortifications on the hills of Trapezitsa were built by the Romans in the fourth century. In the 7th century, it was destroyed by the Slavs. According to some historians, Aseni's first palace was built on a hill. ^[3] Pan, sores, clericals lived on a hill. From the hill there were built 18 churches. ^[four]

Trapezitsa is the second fortress of the inner city of Medieval Tarnovgrad (Veliko Tarnovo). It is located on the right bank of the Yantra River, northwest of Tsarevets. It is a natural fortress surrounded by three rivers. Once upon a time, high walls with battlements and towers rose on steep rocks. On the slopes of the hill descended two transverse walls - one in the eastern part, near the church "St. Dimitar ", and the other on the western slope, in front of the current railway bridge. The fortress had four entrances. The main entrance of Trapezitsa was on the south side and connected with Tsarevets on the bridge across the Yantra River past the Forty Great Martyrs Church." A stone road cut into the rock and reaching the southern gate led to this entrance.

Excavations in 1884 and 1900 opened the foundations of 17 churches. The insignificant fragments preserved on the walls show that they were richly decorated with frescoes and multi-colored mosaics, and their floors were covered with beautiful ceramic tiles. The materials found were not published and, therefore, remained unknown to the science and history of the city. But the records preserved about these excavations show that "old crosses, necklaces, coins, rings, earrings, vessels and other artifacts that seem to have been from ancient Bulgarian times" were found then. The churches of Trapezitsa were richly decorated with various architectural forms: pilasters, niches, blind arches, colorful plates and colorful clay round or quadrangular dishes.

The largest church is considered to be the number 8 church, known by the name of "Ivan Rilsky". Right next to it are traces of other ancient buildings. It is assumed that the monastery. The remains of frescoes have been preserved on the walls of the church. It is known that Tsar Ivan Asen I in 1195 transferred the relics of St. Ivan Rilsky from the city of Sredets (Sofia) to Veliko Tarnovo, which were placed in a church specially built for them on Mount Trapezitsa. It is believed that the room in the southern part of church No. 8 was just intended for the storage of these relics. The relics were stored in Veliko Tarnovo until 1469, when they were transferred to the Rila Monastery. Numerous and richly decorated small churches on Trapezitsa indicate that the houses of the boyars and the higher clergy were also located here.

Between 2008 and 2015 new excavations were carried out at Trapezitsa. In the same period, the southern tower was restored and some of the churches were reconstructed. ^[five]

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  Frescoes in churches

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  remnants of churches

• Dejan Rabovyanov Archeologically training in the southern sector at Trapezitsa. Volume 1