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The Madara Rider or Madara Horseman is an early medieval large rock relief carved on the Madara Plateau east of Shumen in northeastern Bulgaria, near the village of Madara.
The relief depicts a majestic horseman 23 m above ground level in an almost vertical 100-metre-high cliff. The horseman, facing right, is thrusting a spear into a lion lying at his horse's feet. An eagle is flying in front of the horseman and a dog is running after him. The scene symbolically depicts a military triumph.

The monument is dated back to circa 710 AD and has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979. The dating means the monument was created during the rule of Bulgar Khan Tervel, and supports the thesis that it is a portrayal of the khan himself and a work of the Bulgars, a nomadic tribe of warriors which settled in northeastern Bulgaria at the end of the 7th century AD and after merging with the local Slavs gave origin to the modern Bulgarians. Other theories connect the relief with the ancient Thracians, claiming it portrays a Thracian god.

Three partially preserved texts in Medieval Greek, carved in the rock, can be found around the image of the rider. They bear important information regarding the history of Bulgaria in the period. According to Professor Veselin Beshevliev and his book Protobulgarians, the oldest inscription is the work of Tervel (695-721 AD), thus the relief has also been created during his rule. The other inscriptions refer to the khans Krum (796-814 AD) and Omurtag (814-831 AD) and were most likely carved on their order.

Historical - archaeological preserve "Shumen Fortress"
Rising three kilometers west of the city of Shumen is the Shumen Fortress which has existed more than 3200 years. During early and late middle ages the Shumen Fortress was Bulgarian maintained and played an important role in the history. During 1444, bout the time of the crusade march of Vladislav III Yagelo, the fortress was destroyed and burned down. The Fortress is one of the most explored archaeological sites in the country. The fortress and the cultural architecture, homes and thousands of movable monuments bear record of the diverse functions during the different periods, predominantly during the time of the second Bulgarian kingdom. Today the Shumen fortress is exhibited as an open-air museum.

Preslav was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire from 893 to 972 and one of the most important cities of medieval Southeastern Europe. The ruins of the city are situated in modern northeastern Bulgaria, some 20 kilometres southwest of the regional capital of Shumen, and are currently a national archaeological reserve.
The modern Veliki Preslav, "Great Preslav") is a town and municipality seat part of Shumen Province. A former village, it assumed the name of the medieval capital in 1878 and became a town in 1883.

The name of Preslav is clearly of Slavic origin; apparently it was initially founded and functioned as a Slavic settlement until its fortification at the beginning of the 9th century. The proximity to the then Bulgarian capital of Pliska led to the fast development and expansion of Preslav during the reign of the Khans Krum and Omurtag. By the time of the coronation of Khan Boris I in 852, Preslav had turned into an important strategic military centre and was the seat of the Ichirguboil. A number of churches were built in the city after the conversion of the Bulgarians to Christianity in 864. The pagan revolt of the Pliska nobility led by King Vladimir in 892 was decisive for the future destiny of the city. In 893 Vladimir was dethroned and the new ruler, Simeon the Great, decided to move the capital of the state from the still somewhat pagan Pliska to Preslav. In the following 80 years the city developed rapidly, turning into a centre not only of Bulgarian politics and diplomacy, but also of culture, literature and the fine arts. A chronicler mentioned that it took Simeon 28 years to establish and build up his new capital. Archeological excavations have, however, proved that the city continued to develop also during the 930s and 940s and reached the peak in its growth and magnificence in the middle of the rule of Tsar Peter I of Bulgaria.

In view of the impressive town planning, the vital economy and the grandeur of buildings like the Round Church and the Royal Palace, Preslav was a true rival of the largest and most important city centres in the western hemisphere. Culturally, it was the centre of the Preslav Literary School which was founded in Pliska in 886 and was moved to Preslav along with the rest of the court in 893. The greatest Bulgarian writers from the Old Bulgarian period worked in Preslav, among them John Exarch, Constantine of Preslav, Chernorizets Hrabar. It was probably around the Preslav Literary School that the Cyrillic alphabet developed in middle of the 9th century. The city had also large ceramic workshops which produced art ceramics, glazed tiles, as well as ceramic icons and iconostases.

The city's fortune underwent a dramatic downturn at the end of the 960s, when it was occupied by Kievan Prince Sviatoslav. The ensuing war between Ruthenians and Byzantines left the city burnt and ravaged by the army of Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimisces. The conquerors took away the treasury, the Bulgarian Tsar's regalia and a large part of the library of Simeon. Although the city did not lose its importance in the next three hundred years, the neighbouring outskirts and the big monasteries became desolate, the economy lost its vitality and significance. Preslav regained some of its importance in Bulgarian politics during the first years of the joint rule of the founders of the Second Bulgarian Empire, Peter IV of Bulgaria and Ivan Asen I. Apparently, Ivan Asen ruled from the centre of the uprising, Tarnovgrad, whereas his brother and co-ruler Theodore Peter resided in Preslav as a symbol of the renewed statehood of Bulgaria. The strategic advantages of Tarnovgrad were, however, decisive in the long run and the significance of Preslav waned in the course of the 13th century. The Tatar raids during the 1270s drove away the last citizens of Preslav, along with the protothroned bishop of the city. Some of the surviving refugees built up a village of the same name only two kilometres north from the fortress where the contemporary town of Veliki Preslav is now situated.