Madara Rider

Located about 15 minutes away from Preslav is one of Bulgaria’s most iconic symbols, and consequently one of the country’s most important sites. Standing high above the small, unassuming village of Madara is the Madara Horseman – a relief in the cliffs dating back to around the year 700. The sculpture includes rider mounted atop a horse, spearing a lion below and followed by a dog, apparently symbolic of victory. If the fact that creating something like this back then wasn’t hard enough, the entire thing is located about 50 feet off of the ground on a sheer rock face.



Of course, it’s not as if some guy back in the day saw a cliff and thought it would be a good idea to carve a sculpture into it. The entire area is said to have a certain spiritual energy – so much so that one of the founding fathers of Bulgaria, Han Asperux, built a fortress here to tap into the mystical forces held within. You can climb up from the site of the rider to the top of the mountain using a huge path of stairs winding through rocks on the side of the mountain. Nearby Pliska, Bulgaria’s first capital, was purposely built within close proximity to this place in order to both protect the mountain, and for the mountain to supply the capital with strength.


When you explore the nearby caves, it’s easy to see how the ancient Bulgarians thought this was a special place. There is a set of ruins located under a giant half dome in the side of the mountain. Overlooking this site is a giant rock about 100 feet tall, delicately held up by a collection of smaller rocks underneath. A small chapel was then built into those rocks, making for a beautiful little cave sanctuary.


While I was there, a small group of religious pilgrims from elsewhere in Bulgaria was worshipping at the chapel, still tapping into the “spiritual vibrations” that the rocks gave off, just as the first Bulgarians did. I had a fascinating (if somewhat odd) conversation with one of the pilgrims, who told me that if I stood a certain way while touching the rocks, my third eye would be opened. They also told me that Madara was one of 4 places in Bulgaria with special magical powers (the other being Belogradchik, the Trigrad Gorge, and a place in the southeast that I wasn’t familiar with). Unfortunately, I didn’t really sense that myself, but everyone else seemed really into it.


Taken as a whole, the area was a great day trip. With so much to see and experience in such a small area, it’s understandable to see that the whole place was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. This year the village is celebrating 30 years of having the Horseman on this distinguished list. Even more impressive, in my opinion, is the fact that the place is relatively untouched and uncrowded.

The Rider is also celebrated as the “Global Symbol of Bulgaria.” I know this because a giant sign at the entrance to the site proclaimed it as such. But it is indeed a powerful symbol and a great source of national pride. The image is inscribed on the reverse of most of the stotinki (coins) here. Recently, the Bulgarian people also voted to have the Horseman inscribed on their own Euro coins when they switch over from the lev in the coming years.


This shows that the site is still as important in the minds of the people here as it was so long ago. And with a good reason… The day spent there was one of my most fulfilling in all my travels around Bulgaria.

Until next time…