Pereyaslavets

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pereyaslavets (Переяславец; East Slavic from) or Preslavets (Преславец; Bulgarian form) was a trade city located at the mouth of the Danube. The city's name is derived from that of the Bulgarian capital of the time, Preslav, and means "little Preslav".

A thriving trade centre of the First Bulgarian Empire, it was captured by Prince Svyatoslav of Kievan Rus in 968. During Svyatoslav's absence from the city following the Siege of Kiev (968), part of the citizens revolted and opened the gate to Bulgarian forces. According to Vasily Tatischev, Svyatoslav's governor Volk managed to escape.

Upon his return to Bulgaria, Svyatoslav promptly suppressed the rebellion and, to the chagrin of his mother and relatives, transferred the capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets. According to the Primary Chronicle (its record for year 969), Svyatoslav explained to his courtiers that it was to Pereyaslavets, the centre of his lands, that "all the riches would flow: gold, silks, wine, and various fruits from Greece, silver and horses from Hungary and Bohemia, and from Russia furs, wax, honey, and slaves". Two years later, the town fell to the Byzantines, who had launched their own invasion of Bulgaria.

Excavations have identified Pereyaslavets with the village of Nufăru, Romania (known as Prislav until 1968), on the Sfântu Gheorghe branch of the Danube, just 11 km east of Tulcea.