Shumen fortress

The Shumen fortress (Шуменска крепост, Shumenska krepost) is an archaeological site overlooking the city of Shumen in Bulgaria.

It is an ancient fortress with historical links to a village nearby traced to early Iron Age and later owned by the Thracians in the 5th century BC. Then, from 2nd to 4th centuries AD, it was controlled by the Romans who built towers and walls, and it was refurbished by the Byzantines as their garrison. During 1444, the fort was destroyed after the battle between Władysław III of Poland and the Ottomans, and then deserted. The restoration work on the fortress was started in 2012 under the project titled “Bulgaria Begins Here”, and was completed partially in 2015 with financial assistance provided under the European Economic Area (EEA) and Norway Grants to the Shumen Municipality and the Shumen Regional Museum of History.

Location
The fortress is built over a hill which gives a commanding view of the Shumen city. It is located at a distance of 5.5 km from the Shumen city mosque. It is located within the Shumen Plateau Nature Park. From the entrance of the fortress, about 3 km away is the "Creators of the Bulgarian State" Monument built during the communist regime, which was erected in 1981. An information center is 300 m away from this monument and a 3 km track from here leads to the fortress.

History
The fortress represents a substantial part of the history of Bulgaria. The Ancient Bulgars of Northeast Bulgaria founded this empire during the 7th century AD, to the south of the Danube, which was the First Bulgarian Empire. The fortress formed the town of Shumen during the First and Second Bulgarian Empire. The First Empire has revealed during archaeological excavations carried out since 1957, a village dating back to the Iron Age to the 4th century BC. Thracians ruled over the territory from 5th to 2nd century BC, which was followed by Romans who ruled from first century BC to 3rd century AD, and then by the early Byzantine from 4th to 6th century AD.

During the First Bulgarian Kingdom the fortress was part of a system of fortifications providing for the defense of Pliska and Preslav, capital cities, and a religious place of Madara. It then functioned as a minor fort during the 10th–12th centuries, as compared to glory, economic prosperity and military might it had during the 4th–6th centuries. Later in the 13th century it again prospered as a political and economic entity. However, with the Byzantine conquest of Veliki Preslav in 1278 Shumen acquired importance as an administrative and military centre. But Turks took control of the fortress in 1368.

When the Ottomans had taken control of the fortress in 1444, the then King Władysław III of Poland (Varnenchik) (1440–1444) of Polish-Hungarian descent had attempted an attack on the Ottomans which proved to be disastrous as he was killed during the Battle of Varna. Following this battle the fortress was looted and gutted and the Ottoman rulers eventually abandoned the fortress completely.

Description
The fortress was the best developed citadel during the 14th century. Archaeological excavations have been carried out since 1957 and many artifacts and structures have been unearthed. The ruined fort was partially restored during the period 2012–2015. At the foot of the fortress, monasteries and churches were found; some of which were reconstructed in the 1980s. The restoration works completed in 2015 covered walls of the fortress, creating tracks for walking around the fortress, and also building turnstiles. Other infrastructure created to encourage tourism are artistic lighting and equipment for temperature and humidity control, publicity brochures and overall management aspects.

Coins, seals and sealings from the site were studied. A particular circular seal cast in bronze with two headed eagle at the top has been identified as belonging to the tsar John Alexander (1331–1371). The image on the seal is stated to be a common feature of the 14th century seals, which were also made of gold and silver.

Another feature noted in the fortress was of a limestone projection which was carved on one side with a "double-headed eagle and a three-pointed crown seen between the heads of the birds." It is inferred that this marking was either made on the occasion of the visit of the ruler of Bulgaria to the fortress or may be a representation of the last Tarnovo ruler. In the 1970 excavations to the south of Sheman fortress, archaeologist Karel Škorpil unearthed the remnants of a church of 7.3 x size. An inscription found on the wall of the fortress, dated to 13th century, relates to frequent terror attacks by Mongols.