- published: 08 Sep 2009
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Pliska (Bulgarian: Плиска, Old Church Slavonic: Пльсковъ, romanized: Plĭskovŭ) is the name of both the first capital of Danubian Bulgaria (the First Bulgarian Empire) and a small town (a former village known as Aboba) which was renamed after the historical Pliska after its site was determined and excavations began.
Pliska was the capital of Bulgaria between 681 and 893 AD. According to a Bulgarian chronicle, it was founded by Khan Asparukh. It is called Pliskusa by Georgios Kedrenos and Anna Comnena. It had an area of 23 km² and was surrounded by a moat and earthwork ramparts. The walls of the inner fortress were 2.6 meters thick and about 12 meters high.
Pliska was sacked by the Byzantine army in 811, but the invaders were soon driven out by Khan Krum (see Battle of Pliska). In 886, Boris I founded the Pliska Literary School (after 893 Preslav Literary School), which was headed by Naum of Preslav.
In 892, the city became the scene of a pagan revolt led by King Vladimir. After the crushing of the revolt, Vladimir was dethroned and the third son of Boris I, Simeon, was installed into power during the Council of Preslav. One of the first steps of the new ruler was to move the capital to Preslav, a fortified town in the vicinity of Pliska, probably because of the steadily strong pagan influence in the old capital.