Kazimir Pop Konstantinov

Kazimir Pop Konstantinov

Kasimir Popkonstantinow Konstantinov (also Kazimir Popkonstantinov Konstantinov , Bulgarian Казимир Попконстантинов Константинов * 17th September 1942 in Garwan , Oblast Silistra ), known as Kasimir Popkonstantinow, is a Bulgarian medieval archaeologist and historian , staff at the Archaeological Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and professor at the University of Veliko Tarnovo .

Life

Kasimir Popkonstantinow was born in Garwan, northern Bulgaria, in 1942. He graduated from the Spiritual Academy in Sofia and studied history at the University of Veliko Tarnovo . From 1968 he worked as an archaeologist at the Targovishte Museum . Between 1975 and 1986 Popkonstantinow worked as a research assistant at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. 1978 Popkonstantinow wrote the dissertation "Гражданската архитектура в средновековна България (VIII-XI в.)" (German about "Profane architecture in medieval Bulgaria (VIIth-XIth century) candidate") and became. Pop Konstantinov obtained his doctorate in history with the work "Епиграфските паметници и писмената традиция в България (IX-XI в.)" (German about "Epigraphic tradition in Bulgaria)" (IX-XI).

In 1986 Popkonstantinow became a lecturer and from 1996 professor of archeology at the Archaeological Faculty of the University of Veliko Tarnovo. He was also a visiting professor for medieval Bulgarian epigraphy at the universities of Salzburg, Cologne and Freiburg.

He is married to the archaeologist Rosina Kostowa .

Archaeological research

Since 2007, Pop Konstantinov has been leading the archaeological excavations on the Black Sea island of Sweti Ivan , near Sozopol . Zonja Draschewa, director of the Burgas Museums, and Rosina Kostowa are also part of his team. The island, on which Thracian places of worship and a temple of Apollo were built in antiquity , became an important spiritual center with monastery complexes, scriptorium and library in the Middle Ages . The monastery was dedicated to John the Baptist and in the various periods it was directly subordinate to the Bulgarian Tsars, the Byzantine Emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople. Sozopol was itself the seat of a bishop and one of the oldest Christian communities in today's Bulgaria. In 2009 the floor plan of an older single-nave church from the end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th century was discovered under the Johannes-der-Täufer-Klosterkirche . It was also found that the facility was destroyed by the Avars in 586 AD .

During the excavations in 2010 in late July, two reliquaries were found in situ in the single-nave church, below the church age of the newer church, which was consecrated to John the Baptist . The first is from the 4th century and has an inscription. After initial estimates and reading of the inscription, Pop Konstantinov assumes that these are relics of John the Baptist. The finds have been secured and will be further investigated after the archaeological season. A radiocarbon analysis is still pending. The excavations are financed by the Bulgarian and Norwegian state and the Sozopol Foundation. The relics are kept in the Church of the Holy Brothers Kiril and Methodius in Sozopol.

Excavations

Kazimir Popkonstantinov led the following archaeological excavations:

with Veliki Preslaw

• Tsar's Palace (1968–1973)
• Boljar residence (1968–1973)
• The Tsar Monastery with the Golden Church (1968–1973)
• Mostitsch Monastery in Veliki Preslav (1979–1983; 1983–1987; 2005);

in Pliska (1968–1973)

• Palace of the Bulgarian Khan Krum in Pliska

Further

• Krumowo Kale Fortress, near Targovishte (1969)
• Rawna Monastery, near Prowadija (1980–1990)
• Murfatlar rock monastery in Romania (1981–1983);
• Preobraschenie Monastery, Veliko Tarnowo (1990–1993)
• Karaachteke Monastery (Bulgarian Манастир Караачтеке), near Varna (1996-)
• Mominakrepost fortress, near Veliko Tarnowo (2000–2001)
• Mostitsch Monastery in Veliki Preslav (2005–)
• Monastery of John the Baptist on the island of Sweti Ivan , near Sozopol (2007-)

Fonts

Kasimir Popkonstantinow wrote over 80 scientific publications, including several monographs. Some of his German-language works are:

• The spread of the old Bulgarian literature. Based on inscriptions. In: Die Slavischen Sprachen 8, 1985, pp. 167-200
• The spread of old Bulgarian literature in the 9th-11th centuries Century (based on epigraphic data). In: Europe in the second half of the 9th century and the Slavic literature. Vienna 1986, pp. 85-90
• The inscriptions of the Murfatlar rock monastery. In: Die Slavischen Sprachen 10, 1986, pp. 77-106.
• with Otto Kronsteiner : Old Bulgarian Inscriptions I. The Slavic Languages 36, 1994 (monograph)
• The old Bulgarian monastery near Ravna - the literary and cultural center. In: La vie quotidienne des moines et chanoines réguliers au Moyen Âge et Temps modern. Wrocław, 1995, pp. 691-701
• with Otto Kronsteiner: Old Bulgarian Inscriptions II. The Slavic Languages , 52, 1997 (monograph)

Honors

• Cyril and Method Prize of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1985)
• Herder Prize (2004)
• Honorary Citizen of Veliko Tarnovo (2005)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} See interview with Popkonstantinow , www.novinar.net from August 6, 2010, parts of John the Baptist are said to have appeared , in: Der Standard , August 3, 2010; Lost and Found, No. 875Body Parts of John the Baptist , n-tv; Bulgaria Looks to John the Baptist to Resurrect Flagging Economy , The Wall Street Journal; Archeology: Excavation and restoration of St Ivan Iceland near Sozopol financed by Norway , the Sofia Echo, Болгарские археологи заявляют, что нашли мощи Иоанна Крестителя , RIA Novosti , July 1, 2010; A dispute has broken out over the authenticity of an alleged relic of John the Baptist. In: Die Presse from August 12, 2010; Interview with Popkonstantinow , www.dveri.bg from August 4, 2010

Web links

• Information about Kazimir Popkonstantinow (bulg.) On the website of the University of Veliko Tarnovo
• Publications by Kasimir Popkonstantinow in the Opac der Regesta Imperii