Dates: Session 1: July 2 - 16, 2011; Session 2: July 17 - 31, 2011.

The ruins on Djanavara hill near Varna belong to an Early Christian church of Syrian type. Its plan is one of a kind in the Balkan Peninsula. Four additional halls, decorated with marble revetments and mosaics are attached to the single-nave and the narthex. In the crypt archaeologists found three reliquaries (a marble, silver and a golden one - the last decorated with precious stones). The building was constructed  most probably during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527-565) and destroyed latest in 615 AD during the raid of Avars and Slavs. Scholars’ interpretation connects this church with the small but socially and economically important Monophysite community of Syrian refugees living in sixth century Byzantine Odessos.
First excavation project of that site started in early 1900s and lasted for 20 years. Unfortunately the project documentation was lost on the way to USA, where the dig director Hermengild Schkorpil intended to publish a book. His report in Bulgarian archaeological magazines is no more to be used since it doesn’t give answers to some lingering questions: Was the church a part of a larger monastic compound and what was its role  for the early Christian community at Odessos? When and how long did the monastery existed and how was it destroyed? Who built it and who lived there: Orthodox or Monophysites, local people or migrants from the Near East? What was the everyday life like in the monastic community?

Contemporary excavation project started in 2007 and reopened the Byzantine cold case file after 80 years with the main goal to answer these questions.The buildings around the church, partly excavated in 2009 and 2010  and the artefacts found in them proved the thesis that this was a big and impressive monastery complex of the sixth century AD. However, many of its parts: the abbot's residence, the refectory, the scriptorium and/or library, the church's atrium, the monastery fortification  structures, the cemetery or at least other tombs and graves and possibly other monastery churches are still to be discovered.

Participants in the field school project in 2010 uncovered the foundation walls and the interior of a very large building that once surrounded the church from east and north. The finds: numerous dolia, amphorae etc. show that some of the ground floor rooms of that building were used as stores and kitchens of a rich and populous monastery. The entire excavation area shows evidences of a devastating fire that obviously destroyed in the same time the church and the surrounding buildings. During the next season the work will continue in this area, esp. focusing on a zone covered by roof-tiles and debris of a burnt rooftop. The finds underneath could help archaeologists to answer when was the monastery burnt down and what caused the fire: invaders or an accident? Come and help the project team to reveal the secrets of the lost monastery!
Two field school sessions of the project are available in 2011, each includes following three modules: fieldwork; educational course (lectures, workshops and field trainings in Early Byzantine and Field Archaeology), and excursions (to various cultural and archaeological sites in Varna, Aladja Rock-hewn Monastery, Madara (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Pobiti Kamani Stone Forest (Rock phenomenon) and the Museum of Roman Mosaics  in Marcianopolis-Devnya as well as to various Black sea beaches/resorts.

Participants, who join both project sessions are going to have different schedule during the second session, including:

1. An excursion to the ancient coastal city of Nessebar (UNESCO World Heritage Site) and a guided visit to the Roman baths of Odessos-Varna (it will take place during the second session exclusively for participants in both project sessions);
2. (In the afternoons) Lab work related to the finds' processing and documentation and workshops on:

* Early Byzantine  glassware;
* Early Byzantine pottery;
* Early Byzantine lamps;
* Early Byzantine building techniques and materials;

All participants will receive:

* Project Handbook (in PDF version by e-mail and a hard copy on arrival);
* Balkan Heritage Field School Certificate specifying the fieldwork hours, educational modules, and sites visited.

Participants will use the tools and equipment available at the site and are not expected to bring any additional equipment.

Full-board (incl. 3 meals per day) accommodation in comfortable hotel rooms (with two to three beds), equipped with air-conditioning, TV, Wi-Fi and bathroom (with shower and WC). Single rooms are available upon request for an additional fee of 350 EUR. The hotel is located in Varna down town, next to the town’s main pedestrian streets, the Museum and very close to the famous Sea garden of Varna. Requests for vegetarian food are accepted!

Some 7km away from the project hotel. Every-day transportation by Balkan Heritage Field School, covered by the admission fee.

Detailed project agenda available at: http://www.bhfieldschool.org/bh2007varexc09.html

New Bulgarian University grants to students 6 credits for participation in one project session and 9 credits for participation in two sessions. Transcript is available upon request for an additional tuition fee - 300/450 EUR for 6/9 credits (for students outside EU). Participants who don't need academic credits, won't be expected to pay for the tuition fee.

Guided visits around the town of Varna and its environs and to Madara (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Marcianopolis Museum of Roman mosaics and Pobiti Kamani stone forest (a rock phenomenon) are organized for all field school participants. The town of Varna being the country’s summer holiday capital offers a lot of opportunities for sport and entertainment.

Mr. Ivan Ginchev - BH Admissions Officer
balkanheritage@gmail.com

Balkan Heritage Field School/Foundation (BH) - Bulgaria, New Bulgarian University (NBU) - Bulgaria, Varna Regional Museum of History - Bulgaria

Renfrew, Colin and Paul Bahn, Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice. New York, 2006.

Ovcharov, Dimitar and Nikolay Ovcharov, "Early Byzantine Architecture and Art in Bulgaria." Athena Review. 3(1): 47-52. 2001.

Maas, Michael, eds. , The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian. New York, 2005.

Dalton, O. M., Byzantine Art and Archaeology. London, 1911.

Evans, James Allan , "View from a Turkish Monastery: An Introduction to the Early Byzantine Period." Athena Review. 3(1). 2001.