The Madara Rider, representing the figure of a knight triumphing over a lion, is carved into a 100-m-high cliff near the village of Madara in north-east Bulgaria.

It is a unique relief, an exceptional work of art, created during the first years of the formation of the Bulgarian State, at the beginning of the 8th century.

It is the only relief of its kind, having no parallel in Europe. It has survived in its authentic state, with no alternation in the past or the present.

It is outstanding not only as a work of Bulgarian sculpture, with its characteristically realist tendencies, but also as a piece of historical source material dating from the earliest years of the establishment of the Bulgarian state.

The inscriptions around the relief are, in fact, a chronicle of important events concerning the reigns of very famous Khans: Tervel, Kormisos and Omurtag.

The Madara Rider is an exceptional work of art dating from the beginning of the 8th century. It is the only relief of its kind, having no parallel in Europe.

The Madara Rider is outstanding not only as a work of the realist Bulgarian sculpture but also as a piece of historical source material from the earliest years of the Bulgarian state, since the inscriptions around the relief chronicle events in the reigns of famous Khans.

Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979, for centuries, the Madara Knight near Shumen has attracted the attention of tourists and explorers, because it is the only rock relief in Europe, the legacy of Bulgarian ancestors and their greatness.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency