In brief
Burgas‑based archaeologists have discovered a 7.60‑metre‑wide building beside the inner southern wall of the medieval Rusokastro fortress, likely an underground reservoir or food storage. The find, accompanied by silver coins from Tsar Ivan Alexander’s reign and Venetian grosso coins, deepens understanding of the site’s role during 14th‑century conflicts and its later Ottoman destruction. State funding and local municipal support underscore the cultural importance of the excavation.
In a recent excavation near Burgas on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, archaeologists have uncovered a massive 7.60‑metre‑wide building that may have served as a water reservoir or storage area for the medieval town of Rusokastro, a site that witnessed a pivotal 14th‑century battle between Bulgarian and Byzantine forces.
The structure lies just beside the inner southern wall of the fortress. Its walls, built of stone bonded together with an abundant amount of mortar, measure 1.1 metres in thickness. Inside, the surfaces of the walls are coated with a thick layer of pink hydrophobic mortar, a treatment that makes the walls water‑proof. These features suggest that the building was used either as a reservoir or as a storage facility for food supplies during the town’s occupation.
Archaeologists believe the building was the ground floor of a larger complex. Above it, a second residential floor would have provided living space for inhabitants. The shallow depth of the structure and the thick water‑proofing are typical of underground stockpiles that required protection from the elements and from invading forces.
Artifacts and Historical Ties
Alongside the building, the dig team recovered a wide array of artefacts. Among them were silver coins issued during the reign of Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Alexander, as well as Venetian silver grosso coins known as matapans. Copper coins and several other objects were also recovered. The coins are already undergoing cleaning and conservation at the restoration laboratory of the Burgas Museum.
The discovery adds context to the historical significance of Rusokastro. First mentioned by the Arab geographer El Idrisi in a 10th‑century description of the world, the town was later documented by Byzantine chroniclers. The medieval fortress played a key role in a 1332 battle that saw Tsar Ivan Alexander defeat the Byzantine army led by Emperor Andronicus. The castle was destroyed in Ottoman campaigns in 1443, after protecting the Bulgarian border ridge Erkesiya during the 10th‑11th centuries.
Funding and Purpose
The excavation is funded by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria and Kameno Municipality. The Regional History Museum of Burgas conducts the work, working to preserve the town’s heritage and to promote cultural tourism in the region. Rusokastro is listed as a priority archaeological site receiving state funding, with an eye toward its development as a cultural‑tourism destination.
For the local community, the uncovering of a building that once held water or stored food offers a tangible link to a past long removed. It also provides the archaeological community with evidence of the sophisticated engineering capabilities applied in medieval fortifications on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. The discovery may attract further scholarly inquiry and could draw visitors eager to see the fortress’s intact foundations.
With the current work in its final stages, the Regional History Museum plans to document the site in detail and to integrate the findings into its ongoing educational programmes. As the restoration laboratory processes the coins and other objects, the smaller details of Middle Ages life at Rusokastro will gradually come into focus. The excavation has already illuminated the way the fortress’s defenders might have stored supplies defensively during a period of intense conflict with the Byzantine Empire and later faced the challenges posed by Ottoman incursions.
