Hisar Kapia

Last updated
Hisar Kapia
Хисар Капия
Old town hisar kapia.jpg
Plovdiv old town.svg
Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Hisar Kapia
Shown within Plovdiv Old Town
Location Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Coordinates 42°08′59″N24°45′11″E / 42.149783°N 24.753148°E / 42.149783; 24.753148 Coordinates: 42°08′59″N24°45′11″E / 42.149783°N 24.753148°E / 42.149783; 24.753148
Type Gate
History
Founded11th century AD
Periods Middle Ages

Hisar Kapia is a medieval gate in Plovdiv's old town and one of the most famous tourist sights in the city. The gate was built in the 11th century AD over the foundations of a gate from Roman times (probably from the 2nd century AD). Hisar Kapia is one of the three entrances (Eastern, Northern and Southern) to the acropolis of ancient Plovdiv. During the rule of the Ottoman empire revival houses were embedded in the remains of the old stone walls around the gate. [1]

Contents

History

The arch and the construction technique Hisar kapia zoom.jpg
The arch and the construction technique

The first gate on this place was built in the 2nd century AD. In the 6th century during the rule of Justinian the fortification system of the ancient town was expanded and the gate was strengthened. Archeologist suggest that only the foundations of the ancient Roman gate were preserved. The current structure of Hisar Kapia was formed in the Middle Ages (13th - 14th century AD). A construction technique typical from the Second Bulgarian Empire is visible over the arch: a masonry of stones and brick pieces, filled with white mortar.

The importance of the gate faded after the Ottoman invasion in the 14th century. In the 17th and 18th century the rich merchants of Plovdiv built their houses over the ruins of the fortification walls around Hisar Kapia. Today, the lower levels of those houses represent the remains of the ancient walls. Hisar Kapia was reinforced in the beginning of the 20th century due to its poor condition. [2] Today, the medieval gate is one of the landmarks of Plovdiv

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plovdiv</span> City in Bulgaria

Plovdiv, is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 as of 2018 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the cultural capital of Bulgaria and was the European Capital of Culture in 2019. It is an important economic, transport, cultural, and educational center. Plovdiv joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fortification</span> Military defensive construction

A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin fortis ("strong") and facere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindos</span> Place in Greece

Lindos is an archaeological site, a fishing village and a former municipality on the island of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rhodes, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 178.9 km2. It lies on the east coast of the island. It is about 40 km south of the city of Rhodes and its fine beaches make it a popular tourist and holiday destination. Lindos is situated in a large bay and faces the fishing village and small resort of Charaki.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stara Zagora</span> City in Bulgaria

Stara Zagora is the fifth-largest agglomeration in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province located in the historical region of Thrace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hisarya, Bulgaria</span>

Hisarya is a small resort town in Bulgaria, in Plovdiv Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shabla</span> Place in Dobrich, Bulgaria

Shabla is a town and seaside resort in northeastern Bulgaria, administrative centre of the Shabla Municipality part of Dobrich Province. Shabla municipality includes the following villages: Bojanovo, Chernomortsi, Durankulak, Ezerets, Gorichane, Gorun, Granichar, Krapets, Prolez, Smin, Staevtsi, Tvarditsa, Tyulenovo, Vaklino and Zahari Stoyanovo. As of December 2009, the town itself had a population of 3,586 inhabitants. It is situated on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the vicinity of the salt-water Lake Shabla and Bulgaria's easternmost point, Cape Shabla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stadium of Philippopolis</span>

The Stadiumof Philippopolis was the ancient Roman stadium of Philippopolis, built in the 2nd century AD, during the Roman imperial period. It is among the largest and best preserved buildings from the time of the Roman Empire in the Balkan peninsula. At the time the stadium was built, Philippopolis was the capital of the Roman province of Thracia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of the Tarnovo Artistic School</span>

The Architecture of the Tarnovo Artistic School is a term for the development of architecture during the Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396). In the 13th and 14th centuries the capital Tarnovo determined the progress of the Bulgarian architecture with many edifices preserved or reconstructed which show the skills of the Medieval Bulgarian architects and the construction and decorative techniques they used. The builders have created a unique architectural style, known as Tarnovian Style, that influenced the architecture in many countries of Southeastern Europe and parts of Central Europe. With its diverse architecture, the Tarnovo School may be separated into several branches according to the function of the buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amphitheatre of Serdica</span>

The Amphitheatre of Serdica was an amphitheatre in the Ancient Roman city of Ulpia Serdica, now Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Discovered in 2004 and the subject of excavations in 2005 and 2006, the ruins of the amphitheatre lie on two adjacent sites in the centre of modern Sofia. The amphitheatre was built in the 3rd–4th century AD on top of a 2nd–3rd century theatre, which had been ravaged by the Goths. However, the amphitheatre remained in use for less than a century and was abandoned by the 5th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prusias ad Hypium</span> Ruined city located in Düzce Province, Turkey

Prusias ad Hypium was a city in ancient Bithynia, and afterwards in the late Roman province of Honorias. In the 4th century it became a bishopric that was a suffragan of Claudiopolis in Honoriade. Before its conquest by King Prusias I of Bithynia, it was named Cierus or Kieros. Photius writes that it was called Kieros, after the river which flows by it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plovdiv Regional Ethnographic Museum</span> Ethnographic museum, Historic site in Dr. Chomakov str., Plovdiv

The Plovdiv Regional Ethnographic Museum is a museum of ethnography in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Since 1938, it has occupied the 1847 house of the merchant, Argir Kuyumdzhioglu, in the city's Old Town. The museum features six exhibitions, each occupying a separate room.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walls of Trabzon</span>

The Walls of Trabzon are a series of defensive walls surrounding the old town of the city of Trabzon, northeastern Turkey. The fortifications are sometimes called the Trabzon Castle. However, they did not function as a castle, rather as city walls. Constructed on foundations dating back to the Roman era with cut stones from former structures at site, the walls stretch from the hill on the backside of the old town to the Black Sea shore. The walls further divided the city into three parts; the Upper Town or "fortress", the Middle Town and the Lower Town. The upper and middle towns are flanked by steep ravines cut by the Zagnos (Iskeleboz) and Tabakhane (Kuzgun) streams to the west and east respectively, while the lower town extends to the west of Zagnos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurvingrad</span> Ruined fortress in Serbia

Kurvingrad or Koprijan (Копријан), is a ruined fortress which sits above the town of Doljevac on the South Morava river, 11 km south of the town of Niš. The ruins are all that remain of the medieval town of Koprijan from the time of Classical antiquity; the fortress is over a thousand years old. Today, fortifications remain, but have not been substantially studied.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fortifications of Mdina</span> Defensive walls in Mdina, Malta

The fortifications of Mdina are a series of defensive walls which surround the former capital city of Mdina, Malta. The city was founded as Maleth by the Phoenicians in around the 8th century BC, and it later became part of the Roman Empire under the name Melite. The ancient city was surrounded by walls, but very few remains of these have survived.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippopolis (Thrace)</span>

Philippopolis is one of the names of the ancient city situated where Plovdiv is today. The city became one of the largest and most important in the region and was called "the largest and most beautiful of all cities" by Lucian. During most of its recorded history, the city was known by the name Philippopolis after Philip II of Macedon. Philippopolis became part of the Roman empire and capital of the Roman province of Thracia. According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Philippopolis had a population of 100,000 in the Roman period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melite (ancient city)</span> Ancient city on the site of present-day Mdina and Rabat, Malta

Melite or Melita was an ancient city located on the site of present-day Mdina and Rabat, Malta. It started out as a Bronze Age settlement, which developed into a city called Maleth under the Phoenicians, and became the administrative centre of the island. The city fell to the Roman Republic in 218 BC, and it remained part of the Roman and later the Byzantine Empire until 870 AD, when it was captured and destroyed by the Aghlabids. The city was then rebuilt and renamed Medina, giving rise to the present name Mdina. It remained Malta's capital city until 1530.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shumen fortress</span> Archaeological site overlooking the city of Shumen in Bulgaria

The Shumen fortress is an archaeological site overlooking the city of Shumen in north-eastern Bulgaria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nebet Tepe</span>

Nebet Tepe is one of the hills of Plovdiv where the ancient town was founded. The earliest settlements on Nebet Tepe are dated back to 4000 BC. The site was first settled by Thracians, later expanded by Philip II of Macedon and the Roman empire. As the town expanded, Nebet Tepe became the citadel of the town's acropolis. There are remains of the city's walls, towers, and a postern from the time of Justinian leading down to the Maritsa river. Today, the archaeological complex on the hill is one of the most popular tourist sights in Plovdiv and a cultural monument of national significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Town (Plovdiv)</span>

The old town in Plovdiv is an architectural and historical reserve located on three of Plovdiv's hills: Nebet Tepe, Dzhambaz Tepe and Taksim Tepe.

References

  1. Strandel, Leslie/Patrick Erdley (2012): "Bulgaria (Other Places Travel Guide)", 234
  2. Kay, Annie (2008): "Bulgaria. The Bradt Travel Guide", 223