Prespa (medieval town)

Prespa (Bulgarian: Преспа) was a medieval town, situated in the homonymous area in south-western Macedonia. It was a residence and burial place of the Bulgarian emperor Samuel and according to some sources capital of the First Bulgarian Empire and seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate in the last decades of the 10th century.

The toponym Prespa is used for a lake, an island settlement or simply an island. The exact borders and character of the town are difficult to define by the historical sources. It has been searched in the valley of the Lake Prespa, surrounded by the mountains Baba, Petrino, Galičica, Zvezda and Korbets. It is situated in the territories of three modern countries: Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Greece. According to the archaeological research, in the Early Middle Ages there were construction activities in the following sites:

It is likely that the town itself, the center of that agglomeration of settlements, was situated on the Island of Saint Achilleios. It is the largest of the three mentioned islands (1,700 m long and 500 m wide). The ruins of several churches have been discovered, including a large basilica, which was according to some researchers one of the seven large churches, constructed by prince Boris I after the Christianization of Bulgaria, while other suggest that it was built by Thessalian Greeks by orders of emperor Samuel. Its architectural plan is similar to that of the Great Basilica in the old capital Pliska. There are traces of the early medieval Bulgarian painting and sculpture in the ruins. On the inner side of the apse are written the names of the bishops who were subordinated to the Bulgarian Patriarch in the late 10th century. The central part of the island along with the heights Kale (the Bulgarian for fortress) and Kulata (the Tower) used to be fortified. There were churches and probably residential buildings in lower parts and along the coast. That area constituted the Outer town. The northern end was named Porta (Gate) which may suggest that the Outer town also had defense structures.

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