The Basarabi-Murfatlar Cave Complex is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

located near the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Murfatlar Murfatlar () is a town in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. It officially became a town in 1989, as a result of the Romanian rural systematization program. Etymology The name of the town originates from the Turkish word of Arabic or ...

(known as

Basarabi Murfatlar () is a town in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. It officially became a town in 1989, as a result of the Romanian rural systematization program. Etymology The name of the town originates from the Turkish word of Arabic or ...

between 1924–1965 and 1975–2007),

Constanța County Constanța () is a Counties of Romania, county (județ) of Romania on the Bulgaria–Romania border, border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța. Demographics In 2021, it had a population of 655,997 ...

Northern Dobruja Northern Dobruja ( or simply ; , ''Severna Dobrudzha'') is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube, Danube River and the Black Sea, bordered in the south by Southern Dobruja, which is a part of Bulgaria. ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The complex is a relict from a widespread

monastic Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...

phenomenon in 10th century Bulgaria.

History

The rock churches of Murflatlar, carved into a

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

hill, were discovered in 1957. The excavations conducted in 1957–1960 uncovered a complex of cells-dwellings, 4 small and 2 larger churches, crypts and tombs, all dating from the 9th – 11th century. From the late 7th until beginning of the 11th century this territory was part of the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...

Inscriptions

There are many inscriptions engraved on the walls – 2 in the

Greek alphabet The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BC. It was derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and is the earliest known alphabetic script to systematically write vowels as wel ...

, 2 in the

Old Slavonic language Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic subgroup of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European ...

(''Bulgarian recension'') using the

Glagolitic The Glagolitic script ( , , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed that it was created in the 9th century for the purpose of translating liturgical texts into Old Church Slavonic by Saints Cyril and Methodi ...

script and over 30 using the

Cyrillic script The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic languages, Slavic, Turkic languages, Turkic, Mongolic languages, Mongolic, Uralic languages, Uralic, C ...

. The most numerous are the runic inscriptions of Turkic type – over 60 have been found so far. The same type of runes have been used on the Pliska Rosette and can be found on building materials and on the 9th century walls of the first Bulgarian capital

Pliska Pliska ( , ) was the first capital of the First Bulgarian Empire during the Middle Ages and is now List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, a small town in Shumen Province, on the Ludogorie plateau of the Danubian Plain (Bulgaria), Danubian Plain, 20 ...

. The Turkic runes in Murfatlar were based probably on the

Kharosthi Kharosthi script (), also known as the Gandhari script (), was an ancient script originally developed in the Gandhara Region of modern-day Pakistan, between the 5th and 3rd century BCE. used primarily by the people of Gandhara alongside vari ...

script. The language of the runes is presumably

Bulgar Bulgar may refer to: *Bulgars, a historical Turkic group *Bulgar language, the extinct language of the Bulgars *Oghur languages Bulgar may also refer to: *Bolghar, the capital city of Volga Bulgaria *Bulgur, a wheat product * Bulgar, an Ashkenazi ...

. According to Romanian researchers, some graffiti, including depicting a

Viking ships Viking ships were marine vessels of unique structure, used in Scandinavia throughout the Middle Ages. The boat-types were quite varied, depending on what the ship was intended for, but they were generally characterized as being slender and flexi ...

, were interpreted as

Varangian The Varangians ( ; ; ; , or )Varangian
," Online Etymology Dictionary were

Rus' invasion of Bulgaria Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria was a conflict beginning in 967/968 and ending in 971, carried out in the eastern Balkans, and involving the Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, and the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines encouraged the Rus' ruler Sviatoslav to ...

. Despite many attempts at cracking the Murfatlar script, there still is not a universally accepted decipherment, and it is rather heterogeneous. Nevertheless, it is most likely that local monks drew their inspiration here.The cave and the dyke: a rock monastery on the tenth-century frontier of Bulgaria. Florin Curta, Studia Monastica 41 (1999), no. 1: 129-149; p. 140.

Image gallery

Image:BasarabiComplex5.JPG, Basarabi Cave Complex Image:BasarabiComplex.JPG, View from inside the Complex Image:BasarabiComplex2.JPG, View from inside the Complex File:MurtfatlarCaveChurch2.JPG, Graffiti from the Basarabi Complex exhibited in the History Museum of Constanṭa

References

{{reflist

External links

Basarabi – The Cave Churches Complex
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110724063056/http://byzantion.shu-bg.net/rashev_bg.htm Съчетанията от графична рисунка и рунообразен надпис в Равна и Мурфатлар. – Културните текстове на миналото, Рашо Рашев, Кн. III. София, 2005, с. 140–148.] (in Bulgarian)
За четенето на един рунически надпис от Мурфатлар – Северна Добруджа, Иван Т. Иванов М. Минкова, Националeн исторически институт с музей при БAН, София 2009. с. 297 – 299
(in Bulgarian, English summary)
Надписи из Мурфатлара,Д-р Живко Войников
(in Russian) * Popkonstantinov, Kazimir 1986: Die Inschriften des Felsklosters Murfatlar. Die Slawischen Sprachen 10, 1986, 77–106.(in Deutsch) Archaeological sites in Romania Buildings and structures in Constanța County Bulgarian Orthodox monasteries Byzantine sites in Romania Cave monasteries Former populated places in Romania Lower Danube Cave Churches Complex Medieval Bulgarian Orthodox church buildings