ГЛАЗИРАНА КЕРАМИКА СЪС СГРАФИТО УКРАСА ОТ ПОДГЛАЗУРНИ МОНОГРАМИ ОТ СРЕДНОВЕКОВНИЯ БЪЛГАРСКИ ГРАД ЧЕРВЕН

GLAZED CERAMICS WITH SGRAFFITO DECORATION OF UNDERGLAZE MONOGRAMS FROM THE MEDIEVAL BULGARIAN TOWN OF CHERVEN

Abstract

This paper presents a mostly unpublished collection of eight glazed ceramic vessels with monograms that were obtained during the archaeological research at Cherven. Two of them are decorated with a previously unknown bar-shaped monogram that could be deciphered as the high ecclesiastical rank ‘metropolitan’. Another set is marked with a similar, though more complex monogram that probably denotes the rank ‘protokeliot’. The concentration of the unearthed vessels in the premises along the western and northern fortification walls of Cherven’s citadel could serve as further evidence for the existence of a monastery organized around church No. 2 that could have doubled as the residence of Cherven’s metropolitan bishops. Apart from a single Byzantine import, the presented collection of glazed vessels with monograms fits rather well into the characteristic features of Bulgarian Monogram Ware.