Basarabi Cave Complex

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Basarabi Cave Complex is a medieval cave complex located in the town of Basarabi, Constanţa County, Romania.

In 1957, a complex of small Christian churches, dwellings, crypts and tombs, which were used from the 9th until 11th century was discovered in a cave carved into a chalk hill.

There are many inscriptions on the walls written variously in Asiatic Runes, the Greek alphabet, and Old Slavic Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets. The language of these Asiatic Runes and mixed inscriptions is still unknown. It may be Proto-Bulgarian, as suggested by a lot of Bulgarian scholars, or Turanic, as implied by Romanian scholars.

It is said that the names included are of Romanian (Latin) origin, such as "Petre" and even the possibly Nordic "Rainpilpe". Among the drawings on the walls can be found representations of Viking ships (Dobruja was most likely near the trading routes between the Vikings and the Byzantine Empire. Still, Rainpilpe is not of a known Northern origin, and the low hull banana-shaped keel of the so called Viking ship resembles Mediterranean patterns.

[edit] External links

• A complete monograph, including photos, layouts, detailed descriptions, explanatory texts, and a video, of the entire Basarabi Complex - in Romanian, but photos are useful - at the Romanian Group for an Alternative History Website Patzinakia
• Basarabi - The Cave Churches Complex
• The Rupestral Complex of Basarabi (in Romanian)