French, Canadian Archaeologists to Join Bulgarian Colleagues for Excavations of Roman, Byzantine City Zaldapa

July 5, 2016 · by Ivan Dikov · in Ancient Rome / Roman Empire, Ancient Thrace, Antiquity, Byzantine Empire, Middle Ages

Exposed ruins in the huge ancient Roman and Byzantine city of Zaldapa in Northeast Bulgaria. Photo: Krushari Municipality

French and Canadian archaeologists are going to join their Bulgarian colleagues for a second year in a row in the excavations of the Ancient Thracian, Ancient Roman, and Early Byzantine fortress Zaldapa in Northeast Bulgaria.

Zaldapa, a huge Late Antiquity city which was recently granted Bulgaria’s highest status for cultural monuments, is located on a plateau between the towns of Abrit and Dobrin, Krushari Municipality, Dobrich District.

Zaldapa (meaning “yellow water”) was originally an Ancient Thracian settlement founded in the 8^th century BC. Its ruins covering a total of about 35 hectares (app. 86 acres) are located on a high plateau overlooking the picturesque hills and plains all around it.

Archaeological observations indicate that in the Late Roman and Early Byzantine city of Zaldapa was densely built-up and populated. The fortress, which was most probably built in the second half of the 4^th century AD, boasted a total of 32 towers of various shape and size, as well as 3 main and 2 smaller gates.

The first full-fledged archaeological excavations in Zaldapa were started in 2014, and have been carried out by Bulgarian archaeologists from the Dobrich Regional Museum of History, the Varna Museum of Archaeology (Varna Regional Museum of History), and the Silistra Regional Museum of History. They were first joined by French and Canadian experts in 2015.

The French and Canadian team will be in Bulgaria between July 10 and July 24, 2016, and in Zaldapa between July 12 and July 23 “for a second exploratory mission”, Assoc. Prof. Dominic Moreau, an archaeologist from the University of Lille, France, has told ArchaeologyinBulgaria.com.

The members of international team of scholars include:

Assoc. Prof. Dominic Moreau from the University of Lille (Université de Lille), France;

Prof. Nicolas Beaudry from the University of Quebec at Rimouski (Université du Québec à Rimouski), Canada;

Assoc. Prof. Pascale Chevalier from the Blaise Pascale University in Clermont-Ferrand (Université Blaise Pascale de Clermont-Ferrand), France;

Elio Hobdari, architect at the Archaeological Institute of Albania in Tirana;

Adrien Leblond, Ph.D. student at the University of Lille (Université de Lille), France;

Julia Reveret, Ph.D. student at the Blaise Pascale University in Clermont-Ferrand (Université Blaise Pascale de Clermont-Ferrand), France, and at the University of Fribourg (Université de Fribourg), Switzerland

Brahim M’Barek, archaeologist at the city of Metz, France;

Nadia Saint-Luc, freelance archaeologist and philosophy teacher in France.

The Bulgarian team will be led by Prof. Georgi Atanasov from the Silistra Regional Museum of History and Prof. Valeri Yotov from the Varna Museum of Archaeology, together with Ioto Valeriev from the Prof. Asen Zlatarov University in Burgas.

Over the past two archaeological seasons, the digs at Zaldapa revealed a large Early Christian bishop’s basilica, a saint’s crypt inside the basilica, more than 500 marble and limestone architectural fragments, and over 800 Roman and Byzantine coins, mostly from the 4^th century AD.

Krushari Municipality intends to seeks to the inclusion of the Zaldapa Fortress in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list.

Before Zaldapa was declared an archaeological monument of national importance, the District of Dobrich in Northeast Bulgaria had only two other archaeological sites with the highest status, both on the Black Sea coast: the Kaliakra Fortress on the Cape of Kalikra, near the town of Kavarna, and the prehistoric settlement near the town of Durankulak.

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Zaldapa has been excavated since 2014. Photo: Krushari Municipality

Also check out the other stories from the 2015 summer excavations of the Ancient Thracian, Roman, and Byzantine fortress Zaldapa in Northeast Bulgaria:

Archaeologists Discover Saint’s Crypt in Early Christian Basilica in Roman and Byzantine Fortress Zaldapa in Northeast Bulgaria

Bulgarian Archaeologists Find Stone Inscription, Red Marble Pillar in Bishop’s Basilica in Roman and Byzantine Fortress Zaldapa

Treasure Hunters Steal Ancient Artifacts from Roman and Byzantine Fortress Zaldapa in Northeast Bulgaria

French, Canadian Archaeologists Visit Bulgarian Colleagues for Excavations of Ancient Roman and Byzantine Fortress Zaldapa

Background Infonotes:

The Ancient Thracian, Ancient Roman, and Early Byzantine fortress Zaldapa located between the towns of Abrit and Dobrin, Dobrich District, Northeast Bulgaria, is said to be the largest fortified settlement in the geographic region of Dobrudzha (covering much of Northeast Bulgaria). Because of the name of the town of Abrit, for a long time, in the 19^th and the first half of the 20^th century, the Bulgarian archaeologists and historians thought the Zaldapa Fortress was in fact the legendary ancient city of Abritus – until the ruins of Abritus were discovered some 100 km to the southwest, near the city of Razgrad, in 1953.

Zaldapa (meaning “yellow water”) was originally an Ancient Thracian settlement founded in the 8^th century BC. It is located on a large peninsula-shaped plateau with a length of 1.2 km and a width of 500 meters (totaling 0.6 square km). Archaeological observations indicate that Zaldapa was densely built-up and populated. The entire settlement covered an area of 35 hectares (app. 86 acres). Zaldapa’s fortress wall appears homogenous meaning it was probably constructed in a single campaign, without major reconstructions in subsequent periods. It has a lot of straight sections as well as a total of 32 fortress towers of various shape and size, as well as 3 main and 2 smaller gates. The type of the fortification indicates that it was built in the Late Antiquity, i.e. the Late Roman period, most probably in the second half of the 4^th century AD.

Zaldapa was first explored in 1906-1910 by Czech-Bulgarian archaeologist Karel Skorpil, one of the founders of modern-day Bulgarian archaeology. Later archaeological exploration has been reduced to terrain observations. Between World War I and World War II, when the region of Southern Dobrudzha was part of Romania, Zaldapa was also researched by Romanian archaeologists any findings they might have had have not made it to the Bulgarian archaeologists. Proper archaeological excavations at Zaldapa were carried out for the first time in 2014 by archaeologists from the Silistra Regional Museum of History, the Dobrich Regional Museum of History, and the Varna Museum of Archaeology (Varna Regional Museum of History). Unfortunately, since the end of the 19^th century the Ancient Thracian and Roman city of Zaldapa has been targeted by looters and treasure hunters. All archaeological explorations there to date have studied part of the fortifications, a Roman civic basilica, an Early Christian basilica, and a huge water reservoir.

The so called Roman civic basilica was explored by Czech-Bulgarian archaeologist Karel Skorpil in the first decade of the 20^th century. It is located in the center of Zaldapa, and has dimensions of 101 by 18 meters. Its walls are constructed according to the Roman style opus implectum, and its floor is tiled with bricks. According to Bulgarian archaeologist Assoc. Prof. Sergey Torbatov from the National Institute and Museum of Archaeology, the basilica was probably an entire architectural complex consisting of two basilicas with a common entryway; it was a Roman public building with judicial and commercial functions.

In 1906, Karel Skorpil also explored an Early Christian church, a three-nave, one-apse basilica with dimensions 27 meters by 16 meters, situation in the east-west direction. It was built in the same style as the fortress wall and the civic basilica, most probably at the end of the 5^th and the beginning of the 6^th century AD, during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I Dicorus (r. 491-518 AD). A bishop’s basilica was discovered at Zaldapa in the first regular excavations in 2014 by archaeologists from the Silistra Regional Museum of History, the Dobrich Regional Museum of History, and the Varna Museum of Archaeology (Varna Regional Museum of History) led by Prof. Georgi Atanasov and Prof. Valeri Yotov.

The water reservoir of the Zaldapa fortress was discovered in 1949 by Bulgarian archaeologist M. Mirchev. It is located northwest of the fortress itself. It was a rather complex engineering facility consisting of two spaces. The water reservoir was connected with the fortress with a secret passage, a rock tunnel which is 3 meters wide and 3 meters tall. The Bulgarian archaeologists believed that because of its vulnerable location outside the fortress wall and the secret passage, it was covered with earth immediately after its construction to hide it from the enemy forces. The water reservoir was likely constructed in the second quarter of the 4^th century AD together with other Late Roman urban infrastructure in the city of Zaldapa.

According to the works of 7^th century AD Byzantine chronicler John of Antioch, the city of Zaldapa was the birthplace of Byzantine general Vitalian (d. 520) who led a rebellion against Byzantine Emperor Anastasius which grew into a 5-year civil war. The city of Zaldapa is also found in the list of fortifications renovated during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I the Great (r. 527-565 AD) where it was also mentioned as the seat of a Christian bishop under the diocese of the metropolitan in Tomis (today’s Constanta in Romania). The fortress of Zaldapa was in use by the Later Roman Empire and Early Byzantine Empire (i.e. the Eastern Roman Empire) for about 250 years – between the second half of the 4^th century AD, and the end of the 6^th century AD when the city of Zaldapa was depopulated as a result of the great barbarian invasion of the Avars in 585 AD.