Palace of Omurtag

The site has been pinpointed as the location of a fort and palace of Omurtag, ruler (kanasybigi) of the First Bulgarian Empire in 815–831, as mentioned in the Chatalar Inscription of 822.

The earliest ruins at the Palace of Omurtag site include four churches, two of which built on top of each other; a bath; and fortified walls, all dating to Late Antiquity (roughly 250–650 CE).

[3] In one of the graves, researchers found the remains of a woman with the artificial cranial deformation typical[citation needed] for noble persons among the Goths, Sarmatians and Bulgars.

The inscription's text indicates that kanasybigi Omurtag built an aulē with four columns topped by two lion sculptures near the Ticha River.

[4] Earlier scholars linked that passage with Preslav, the city that would succeed Omurtag's capital Pliska as the ruling centre of the Bulgarian Empire in the end of the 9th century.

[5] While it remains unclear whether the word aulē should be interpreted as the Greek αύλή ("palace, court") or the steppe nomadic aul, a fortified ruling centre, the ruins at Han Krum suitably match the medieval description.

[4] Archaeological research has established that the medieval site at Han Krum was inhabited for more than 150 years, from 822 until the late 10th century, when the fort was razed.

Buried carcasses of rabbits and dogs, medieval vessels, and a plastered stone with rims and furrows allowing blood to flow to a pit all testify to that use.