Prespa (medieval town)

It has been searched in the valley of the Lake Prespa, surrounded by the mountains Baba, Petrino, Galičica, Zvezda and Korbets.

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.

[1] The town gained great political significance after 971 when the capital of Bulgaria Preslav was seized by the Byzantines during the war against Sviatoslav of Kiev.

[6] Later it became the residence of Samuel who de facto ruled the Bulgarian Empire after the murder of his brother Aron in 976 or 986 and especially after the legitimate emperor Roman was captured by the Byzantines in 991.

Some think that Sofia was the political center of the country up to 986[10] while others consider that Prespa was never an official capital of Bulgaria, unlike Skopje and Ohrid.

[7] On the eastern shore of the lake, near the village of Agios Germanos, Samuel erected an inscription dedicated to his parents, Comita Nikola and Ripsimia of Armenia, and his eldest brother David.

[17] Prespa, including the Basilica of Saint Achilles and Samuel's palaces, was destroyed by Latin mercenaries in 1073, in the aftermath of the suppression of the Uprising of Georgi Voiteh, who attempted to restore the independence of Bulgaria.

[19] During excavations in 1969 the Greek archaeologist Nikolaos Moutsopoulos discovered a grave which is thought to be the burial place of emperor Samuel.