The relief
Rider, horse and lion.
The original uploader was Octopus at Slovenian Wikipedia. — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Nikolina Ivanova — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · The original uploader was Octopus at Slovenian Wikipedia. — CC BY-SA 3.0
The Madara Rider is a large early medieval rock relief on the Madara Plateau east of Shumen in northeastern Bulgaria, near the village of Madara. It lies about 16 km in a straight line from Shumen, and UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 1979. The relief is usually dated to the very late 7th or very early 8th century, in the reign of Khan Tervel. It shows a majestic, almost life-size horseman carved about 23 metres above the ground into a near-vertical cliff 100 metres high. The rider faces right, with a lion before his horse and a dog running behind. Centuries of erosion have worn away much of the detail, and its meaning and symbolism are still debated. The cream limestone cliff rises above dense green trees, banded with horizontal layers of rock. Visitors stand on a metal viewing platform below the relief and need to look closely to make out the rider and horse in the stone. The visit pairs with the surrounding Madara historical reserve, with caves and a stairway up to the plateau. Morning side light shows the relief best.
Rider, horse and lion.
100 m of limestone.
Below the relief.
Madara Plateau, near Madara village, east of Shumen, Bulgaria
Morning, when the light picks out the relief.
From the viewing platform below.