# Markeli
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{{redirect|Marcellae|the Marcellae sisters|Claudia Marcella}}
{{Infobox Military Structure
|name = Markeli
Маркели
|location = [Burgas Province](/source/Burgas_Province), [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria)
|image = Vodootbranitelnakula.JPG
|image_size = 250px
|caption = Markeli's Well Tower on the banks of the [Mochuritsa](/source/Mochuritsa).
|map_type = Bulgaria
|coordinates = {{coord|42|38|15.48|N|26|53|47.48|E|region:BG-23_type:landmark|display=title}}
|map_size =
|map_alt =
|map_caption =
|type =
|materials =
|height =
|condition = In ruins
|ownership =
|open_to_public =
|controlledby =
|battles =
|events = [Byzantine–Bulgarian Wars](/source/Byzantine%E2%80%93Bulgarian_Wars) ([Battle of Marcellae (756)](/source/Battle_of_Marcellae_(756)), [Battle of Marcellae](/source/Battle_of_Marcellae) (792))
}}
'''Markeli''' ({{langx|bg|Маркели}}; {{langx|el|Μαρκέλλαι}}, ''Markellai''; {{langx|la|Marcellae}}) was a medieval [Byzantine](/source/Byzantine_Empire) and [Bulgarian](/source/First_Bulgarian_Empire) frontier stronghold, the ruins of which are located in Karnobat Municipality, [Burgas Province](/source/Burgas_Province), southeastern [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria). Dating to [Late Antiquity](/source/Late_Antiquity), the castle lay some {{convert|7.5|km|mi|abbr=off|lk=on}} from the modern town of [Karnobat](/source/Karnobat). It was the site of two notable medieval battles between Byzantines and Bulgarians, the [Battle of Marcellae of 756](/source/Battle_of_Marcellae_(756)) and the [Battle of Marcellae of 792](/source/Battle_of_Marcellae).[{{citation | editor-first = Alexander | editor-last = Kazhdan | editor-link = Alexander Kazhdan | title = [Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium](/source/Oxford_Dictionary_of_Byzantium) | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1991 | isbn = 978-0-19-504652-6 |page=1300 |chapter=Markellai }}]
==History==
Markeli acquired its strategic importance in the late 7th century, when the establishment of the [First Bulgarian Empire](/source/First_Bulgarian_Empire) and its expansion turned it into a vital frontier stronghold just south of the [Balkan Mountains](/source/Balkan_Mountains). It would often change hands between Bulgarians and Byzantines, who would use it as a favourable starting point for military campaigns southwards and northwards respectively. Markeli first came under Bulgarian rule in 705, when it, together with the whole region of [Zagore](/source/Zagore_(region)), was ceded to Bulgaria by [Justinian II](/source/Justinian_II).[{{cite news|url=http://paper.standartnews.com/bg/article.php?article=27249|title=Крепостта Маркели спасява Плиска ("The Markeli Fortress saves Pliska")|last=Димитров|first=Божидар|author-link=Bozhidar Dimitrov|date=2005-12-19|publisher=[Стандарт](/source/Standart_(newspaper))|language=bg|access-date=27 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192448/http://paper.standartnews.com/bg/article.php?article=27249|archive-date=29 October 2013|url-status=dead}}]
In 756, [Byzantine Emperor](/source/Byzantine_Emperor) [Constantine V](/source/Constantine_V) organized a campaign against Bulgaria. The previous year, Bulgarian forces under [Kormisosh](/source/Kormisosh) had plundered Byzantine [Thrace](/source/Thrace) and reached the capital [Constantinople](/source/Constantinople), though by 756 the Bulgarian throne was occupied by [Vineh](/source/Vinekh_of_Bulgaria). Constantine V's army advanced into Thrace and was engaged by Bulgarian forces [at Markeli](/source/Battle_of_Marcellae_(756)), which at the time was a border fortress. The Byzantines came out victorious in the skirmish,[{{cite book|last=Curta|first=Florin|title=Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250|url=https://archive.org/details/southeasterneuro0000curt|url-access=registration|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/southeasterneuro0000curt/page/85 85]|isbn=978-0-521-81539-0}}][{{cite book|last=Златарски|first=Васил|author-link=Vasil Zlatarski|title=История на българската държава през средните векове|editor=Петър Хр. Петров|publisher=Наука и изкуство|location=София |date=1970|page=270|oclc=405296440|language=bg}}]
In 792, Markeli was once more in the centre of a major [Byzantine–Bulgarian conflict](/source/Byzantine%E2%80%93Bulgarian_Wars).[{{cite book|last=Louth|first=Andrew|title=Greek East and Latin West: the church, AD 681-1071|publisher=St Vladimir's Seminary Pres|date=2007|page=63|isbn=978-0-88141-320-5}}][{{cite book|last=Haldon|first=John F.|title=Byzantium at war: AD 600-1453|url=https://archive.org/details/byzantiumatwarad00hald_817|url-access=limited|publisher=Osprey Publishing|date=2002|page=[https://archive.org/details/byzantiumatwarad00hald_817/page/n17 20]|isbn=978-1-84176-360-6}}] Some of the emperor's personal servants and eminent ''[strategoi](/source/Strategos)'' were killed by the Bulgarians, who also captured the emperor's tent, treasury and horses.[Златарски, pp. 316–317.]
In 811, [Nikephoros I Logothetes](/source/Nikephoros_I_Logothetes)'s forces departed from Markeli in their ill-fated invasion of Bulgaria,[{{cite news|url=http://www.cherga.bg/statia.php?mysid=733&t=32|title=Маркели — древният страж на старопланинските проходи ("Markeli — the ancient guardian of the Balkan Mountain passes")|last=Стоянов|first=Юлий|date=2007-06-26|publisher=Черга|language=bg|access-date=27 December 2009}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}][Златарски, pp. 330–331.] Byzantine scholar [Anna Komnene](/source/Anna_Komnene) writes that in 1089 her father [Alexios I Komnenos](/source/Alexios_I_Komnenos) had conflicts and negotiations with the [Pechenegs](/source/Pechenegs) and [Cumans](/source/Cumans) who had pitched their tents at Markeli (''Marcellae'').[{{cite book|last=Comnena|first=Anna|title=The Alexiad of Anna Comnena|editor=Elizabeth A. Dawes|publisher=Medieval Sourcebook|chapter=Book VII: War with the Scyths (1087-90)|chapter-url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/annacomnena-alexiad07.html}}] The fortress was manned and populated until some time in the 12th century.[{{cite book|last=Curta|first=Florin|author2=Roman Kovalev|title=The other Europe in the Middle Ages: Avars, Bulgars, Khazars, and Cumans|url=https://archive.org/details/othereuropemiddl00curt|url-access=limited|publisher=BRILL|date=2008|page=[https://archive.org/details/othereuropemiddl00curt/page/n208 198]|isbn=978-90-04-16389-8}}]
==Location and description==
right|thumb|Ruins of the basilica within the castle.
Markeli is situated south of the [Balkan Mountains](/source/Balkan_Mountains) near the [Mochuritsa](/source/Mochuritsa) river, a major tributary of the [Tundzha](/source/Tundzha), at the point where the river flows out of the [Karnobat Valley](/source/Karnobat_Valley) at on the western tip of the [Hisar Heights](/source/Hisar_Heights). The stronghold's location was selected so as to defend the [Rish](/source/Rish_Pass) and [Varbitsa](/source/Varbitsa_Pass) [mountain pass](/source/mountain_pass)es. It was the starting point of a chain of Bulgarian fortifications along the route to the early medieval capital [Pliska](/source/Pliska) crossing the mountains.[{{cite book|last=Bury|first=J. B.|title=History of the Eastern Empire from the Fall of Irene to the Accession of Basil: A.D. 802-867, Parts 802-867|publisher=Cosimo, Inc.|date=2008|page=339|isbn=978-1-60520-421-5}}] The area was inhabited before the castle's construction, as indicated by traces of [prehistoric](/source/prehistoric) and [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age) settlements and [Ancient Roman](/source/Ancient_Rome) burial mounds in the surrounding area.