Late-antique town of Abritus
The ancient city of Abritus was located in the lands of the present town of Razgrad. It was founded at the end of I century as a Roman military camp and later was turned into a major urban center of the Roman province of Moesia Inferior. In the II century city was a camp of a cohort of XI Claudius Legion with headquarter in Durostorum which role was to guard the northern frontier of the empire.
At the beginning of IV century the town was additionally strengthened by a building of a massive fortress wall surrounding an area of 14 000m2. The wall was around 3 meters wide and 12 meters high. There were 4 gates and 35 guarding towers.
The castle of Abritus was destroyed in the end of VI century by the Avars and Slavs. At the end of IX and the beginning of the X century on its ruins was built a Bulgarian fortress (Hisarlashkata fortress), which was demolished in the mid-XI century by the Pechenegs.
The remains of the ancient city and the fortress are well studied. There are revealed several public and residential buildings and parts of the southern and northern necropolis. Well restored are the remains of a peristyle complex, that covers an area of 3200 m2. In the past this building was a residence of a senior magistrate. In the region of the ancient Abritus was discovered the largest in Bulgaria treasure of Late Antiquity (V century) gold coins consisting of 835 "solids". Some of the artifacts found here are exhibited in Abritus Museum, which is located in the beginnig of the archaeological site.
The remains of the ancient Roman city Abritus near Razgrad are included in the list of the "Hundred tourist sites of Bulgaria".
