LIMEKILNS FROM MEDIEVAL PHILIPPOPOLIS (PRESENT-DAY PLOVDIV, BULGARIA)

Abstract

During the Middle Ages, lime was the main building material used in the construction of fortifications, churches, representative buildings, water cisterns, etc. Lime manufacturing has been insufficiently studied in present-day Bulgarian lands. In 2022, parts of two kilns were studied in Plovdiv that date to the late 10th – 11th c. The article presents both the kilns themselves and their context in the city’s topography. They are located outside but close to its fortified part, in an area loosely inhabited during this period. Therefore, this air-polluting and fire-hazardous production was located away from residential districts but was still in immediate proximity. This location helped to facilitate the supply of raw materials, marble architectural details removed from the ruins of Roman and Late antique buildings, and the delivery of finished products to sites under construction. The kilns’ location was chosen following the specifics for their construction: on a slope where the wind, usually blowing from the west, could ensure natural air intake into the kilns to maintain a strong fire.