Madara

a complex of archaeological remains dating from various epochs in the northeastern part of Bulgaria, located near the village of Madara in the vicinity of the city of Shumen. The site was first investigated in 1903.

The oldest cultural level, discovered in a cave near the village of Madara, comprised the remains of a Chalcolithic fanning settlement. A sanctuary of the nymphs and the ruins of a villa with outbuildings date from the time of the Roman Empire. Monuments and remains from the second half of the first millennium A.D. have also been preserved. These include a Bulgarian fortress built of dressed stone and the remains of stone and brick palaces, towers, and outbuildings. The “Madara Horseman,” a ninth-century Bulgarian relief (2.6 m ×3.1 m), is well known. Carved on a cliff at a height of 23 m, the relief depicts a horseman, accompanied by his dog and spearing a lion. Greek inscriptions of the eighth or early ninth century have been discovered on the sides of the relief and below it. These inscriptions supplement the information of Byzantine writers about the history of the Bulgarians of that period.