Explore the historic highlights of Falcarragh
The Great Basilica of Pliska is an architectural complex in Pliska, the first capital of the First Bulgarian Empire, which includes the cathedral, an archbishop"s palace and a monastery. The basilica was constructed on the orders of the knyaz of Bulgaria, Boris I (r. 852–889), after his baptism in 864 and the resultant Christianization of Bulgaria. Completed around 875, the basilica was 102.5 metres long and 30 metres wide. The complex includes Great Basilica itself – a basilica used as the cathedral church – and the attached monastery and episcopal palace inhabited by Christian monks and the bishop of Pliska.
Pliska was the first capital of Bulgaria, and according to legend founded by Asparuh of Bulgaria in the late 7th century. The site was originally an encampment, with the first tent-shaped buildings at Pliska of uncertain date.