Pliska - from the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire to a Byzantine provincial centre.

Thus far, 124 years have passed since the beginning of the archaeological survey of Pliska. Over the years, more than 40 archaeologists from several countries participated in the excavations. The efforts of the majority of the researchers were concentrated on several main points where the monumental stone architecture of Pliska was revealed. However, only 0.5% of the city territory has been studied. The main reason is its size - the earthen fortification of Pliska surrounds an area of 23 square kilometers.

The building projects in the city are related to three historical periods in the existence of Pliska: capital (the end of the 7th century – 893AD), post-capital (893AD – 970AD), and the Byzantine provincial period until the middle of the 11th century. During this time we can observe various intensive construction activities. The main one is the transformation from wooden to stone architecture and the emergence of regular urban fabric.