Aladara
Aladara is one of the most picturesque places in North-East Bulgaria, a combination of the beauties of nature. The high plateau ends in a straight cliff to the north, forming an abyss over 100 metres deep. There are huge caves at the loot of the cliff, and numerous springs. Conditions were favourable here for man to settle even in pre-historic times. From that day to this the site has been inhabited without interruption. Numerous remains of different cultures of all historical periods have accumulated. We find remains of the Eneolithic Age, and of the Iron Age too.
The remains of a big Roman villa were found, quite low, at the approaches to the cliff. There was an old Thracian shrine under the big cave around the springs, in which votive tablets of the Thracian Horseman were found, and of other dei-ties also. The ruins of buildings of the Bulgarian Middle Ages are ol particular interest, however. Some of them date back to the period before the conversion of the Bulgarians to Christianity. An extensive conglomeration of buildings is visible not far from the foot of the cliff, on which the relief has been cut.
Some think that this was Omourtag’s palace; another group of buildings is considered by some to have been a pagan triple, and by others -—a second palace private tours istanbul. In general, much is not yet clear about the use to which the buildings excavated at Madara and belonging to the period of the First Bulgarian Kingdom were put. Madara is also known for its fortress, which rose on the crest of the perpendicular cliffs. The fortress walls trace the slanting sides of a triangle, the third side of which was formed by the edgeol the cliff.
This side was not fortified with a wall, because the fortress was entirely inaccessible on that side. The walls were built of rectangular stone blocks of different sizes. The fortress gate was defended by two pentagonal towers and there was a big square tower at one corner. The Madara Fortress probably existed before the proto-Bulgarians settled in this region. But because of its strategic situation it played an important part during the entire medieval history of the Bulgarian people, until they fell under Ottoman domination.
Diggings in the two necropolises around Madara also yielded interesting finds. A particularly large amount of jewelry was found here, among which there were two belt ornaments, which are attributed to the toreutic art of the Slav-Bulgarians. No less interesting are the finds, chiefly pottery, at the necropolis near Novi Pazar, which also belongs to the period of the First Bulgarian Kingdom.










