Pliska

Pliska was the first capital of the First Bulgarian Empire during the Middle Ages and is now a small town in Shumen Province, on the Ludogorie plateau of the Danubian Plain, 20 km northeast of the provincial capital, Shumen. Pliska was the first capital of Bulgaria. According to legend, it was founded by Asparuh of Bulgaria in the late 7th century; this legend is archaeologically unsubstantiated. The site was originally an encampment, with the first tent-shaped buildings at Pliska of uncertain date. No evidence exists of a settlement before the 9th century, and claims that the site dates from Late Antiquity have been contested. By the early 9th century, Pliska was surrounded by a defensive wall and 2,300 hectares (5,700 acres) of land was further enclosed by an outer earthwork with stone revetment 21 kilometres (13 miles) long. The Byzantine army, led by the emperor Nikephoros I (r. 802–811), sacked and burned Pliska in 811.