Founded in 681 as a pagan state, Bulgaria was formally Christianised by Byzantine clergy in the 860s, under Prince Boris (r. 852–889). The right to convert Bulgaria to Christianity was the subject of a political dispute between Byzantium and the Papacy.[1][2] With the conversion to Christianity, Boris hoped to solve internal ethnic issues and improve the foreign relations of his state, which was not treated equally by the Christian rulers of Europe.[3]
The Round Church was constructed during the rule of Boris' son and successor, Simeon (r. 893–927), whose successful campaigns established Bulgaria's temporary superiority over Byzantium,[4] at times threatening the Byzantine capital at Constantinople. He extended the territory of the First Bulgarian Empire over most of the Balkans,[5] to the Adriatic and the Aegean. Simeon also conquered the lands of modern Serbia and Montenegro and efficiently eliminated the Magyar threat from the north. Counted among Bulgaria's greatest leaders, Simeon was a benefactor of literature and the arts; his reign is considered the "Golden Age" of medieval Bulgarian culture[6][7] because of Bulgaria's literary influence over contemporary Slavic Europe.[5][8]
The city of Preslav was made the capital of Bulgaria early in Simeon's reign, partly because of the former capital Pliska's association with pre-Christian paganism. Simeon turned Preslav into a cultural centre, a true rival to Constantinople.[9][10] Some of the most eminent scholars of Bulgaria's Golden Age worked at the Preslav Literary School.[7] Intended more as a royal residence and a showcase of cultural power than a fortress, the city boasted impressive architecture,[5] including a large number of characteristic palaces and dozens of churches.[9][11] Among them the Round Church, regarded as "one of the most impressive monuments of medieval Bulgarian architecture"[12] and an "expression of the highest achievements of Old Bulgarian culture",[13] stood out.[12]crystal necklaces tv on dvd
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