Archaeologists in the city of Kyustendil in Western Bulgaria have unearthed a Late Antiquity / Late Roman building which is believed to have been the residence of the Early Christian bishop of the large Ancient Roman city of Pautalia.
The predecessor of today’s Bulgarian city of Kyustendil, Pautalia, originally an Ancient Thracian settlement known for its mineral water springs, was an important Roman, and then Early Byzantine city.
In the Middle Ages, during the First Bulgarian Empire (632/680 – 1018) and Second Bulgarian Empire (1185 – 1396/1422), it was also a major city.
While Roman Era Pautalia had a much larger fortified area, in the Early Byzantine period, a smaller fortress was constructed on the Hisarlaka Hill towering above what is today Kyustendil (the Pautalia – Hisarlaka – Velbazhd Fortress).
Pautalia was initially part of the Roman province of Thracia (Thrace) but after the administrative reform it became part of the province of Dacia Mediterranea, and was the third largest city in it, after Serdica (today’s Bulgarian capital Sofia) and Naissus (today’s Nis in Serbia).
The large building which is believed to have been the residence of the Early Christian bishop of Pautalia has been discovered during rescue excavations near Kyustendil’s Art Gallery “Vladimir Dimitrov Maystora”, the Bulgarian National Television reports.
