Trapezitsa Hill

The Trapezitsa hill is situated on the left shore of the Yantra river, northwest of the Tzarevetz hill. It is a natural fortification, surrounded on three sides by the river. In the past, the high walls of the fortification were rising on the steep rocks. There are two theories about the origin of the name Trapezitsa. One of them says that the name origins from the word “trapeza” (or table – in Bulgarian). According to the second one, its roots are to be found in the word “trapetz” (or trapezium – in Bulgarian), because the plateau was trapezium-shaped. When excavations were made in the region (1884 – 1900), specialists discovered the foundations of 17 churches, which were richly decorated with different murals and multi-colored mosaics. Previous research works have shown that most of the murals were made by masters from the Tarnovo Painting School. The inscriptions were in Bulgarian language, but only separate words of them have been preserved. History has it that back in 1195, Asen I moved the relics of St. Ivan Rilski from Sredets (nowadays Sofia) to Veliko Turnovo, where they were placed in a special church in Trapezitsa. The relics were preserved in Veliko Tarnovo until 1469, when they were moved to the Rilski Monastery.