ANTIQUITY, XXXII, 1958 PLATES XVIII AND XIX

Some Early Christian Remains in Southern

Moravia
by JOSEF POULfK
Dr Josef Poulik, Director of the Archaeological Institute at Brno of the Czechoslovak
Academy of Sciences, describes here the archaeological discoveries ma& at Stark
Me'sto and Mikultice in Moravia which reveal flourishing Christian communities
before and in the time of the mission of St Cyril and St Methodius in 863 A.D.

C ZECHOSLOVAK historians have for some decades devoted attention to the problem
of the rise and development of the early feudal state of Greater Moravia which
flourished under the princes Mojmir, Rostislav, and Svatopluk in the 9th century A.D.
Several localities in Moravia and western Slovakia appear to have been focal points of this
state but the majority of historians favoured the view that the principal fortress of the
Mojmiride princes stood on the right bank of the river Morava at StarC M6sto near
UherskC HradigtE. There are 12th century mentions of a oilla Veligrad in this area and this
name clearly preserves the tradition of an important f0rtress.l
Those engaged in research on the Greater Moravian state have in the past relied prin-
cipally on Frankish and Bavarian documentary sources, and to a lesser extent on legends
of the Mission of SS. Cyril and Methodius, who were sent to Moravia from Byzantium
at the request of Prince Rostislav. Moravians are first mentioned in documents in the year
822, at the well-known Council of Frankfurt, but this and other written evidence is in-
sufficient to provide a full picture of the life and culture of central Europe in the 9th
century. Archaeological methods have in consequence assumed special importance in the
solution of these complicated problems.
Moravia is rich in memorials of its early feudal past. Fortifications, settlements, and
burial grounds are all known but an unfortunate lack of financial support had until recent
times prevented their thorough examination. When in I 948 more favourable economic
circumstances permitted extensive excavations to be undertaken attention was first con-
centrated on the StarC MEsto area. Graves containing rich gold and silver ornaments had
come to light here from time to time from the end of the last century onwards. Between
the wars a devoted amateur archaeologist, Antonin Zelnitius, preserved many of these
objects in the local museum, where they were examined by Prof. Lubor Niederle, the
distinguished Czechoslovak Slavonic scholar. He concluded that they were Byzantine and
Oriental work of the late 9th and early 10th century.
The 1948 excavations at Stare Mbto were carried out by the Brno branch of the
Archaeological Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences under the direction of
Dr Hrubf, head of the Prehistoric Department of the Moravian Museum at Brno. The
first site to be examined was that known as Na valdch.* The immediate discovery of
numerous graves, aligned from west to east and containing gold and silver ornaments,
suggested that the remains of a church might exist in the vicinity. This was verified in the
spring of 1949 when the foundations of a small church (37 ft. long) with rectangular nave
and horse-shoe shaped apse were excavated. The building was of masonry and was
Stare Mzsto, Uherskb Hradiite, and Veligrad mean Old Town, Magyar Castle, and Great Fort
respectively. The form Veligrad is archaic. (Translator's note.)
a Na vhlach can be translated as The Dykes or Ramparts.
 ANTIQUITY
surrounded by so many graves that in places they formed a seven-fold layer. The graves
contained a great variety of gold and silver jewellery, typically Slavonic pottery, and iron
axes, spears, swords, and other weapons. Before the lively discussions initiated by these
discoveries had died down news reached Brno that gravel-working at Star6 MZsto had
revealed, and was destroying, further graves and buildings about one mile west of Na
valich. An emergency excavation in September 1949 resulted in the identification of the
foundations of another church, somewhat larger than the first one (49 ft. in length) and
possessing a narthex. It was likewise surrounded by graves with gold and silver ornaments,
but though the narthex itself contained graves the total number of burials was much
smaller than at the Na valPch site. It appears that each of these churches had its specialized
function.
The discovery of two stone churches at Start M k t o is surprising in view of the opinion
held hitherto by a number of historians and art-historians in Czechoslovakia and abroad,
that the Slavs north of the Danube possessed only timber buildings, and that their culture
was both simple and entirely dependent on foreign sources. Though there is not yet
unanimity concerning the age of the newly discovered buildings archaeologists are generally
agreed that they belong to the last third of the 9th century. During this period the Moravian
state enjoyed its greatest prosperity, and the missionary activity of SS. Cyril and Methodius
also falls within it.
The Star6 Mbto discoveries re-opened discussion of the problem of the Greater
Moravian capital. While some workers took them to support the view that the principal
castle of Rostislav and Svatopluk was none other than Veligrad, and that Start MZsto
represented its site, others (particularly archaeologists) emphasized the need for further
evidence. It had certainly been established that an important Slav settlement occupied
the Star6 Mgsto site in the 9th century, that it possessed its own industry and jewellers’
workshops, and that a flourishing trade existed with Byzantium and the West. What could
not be excluded was the possibility of further discoveries of comparable importance,
perhaps likewise on the River Morava or in the lowlands of south Moravia on the River
Dyje. And indeed such a discovery did take place a few years later.
As early as the last century mentions occur in specialist literature of a fortified site Valy
(i.e. Ramparts) on the lower Morava some twenty-five miles south of Star6 MSsto, near
MikulEice. The distinguished Moravian archaeologist Dr I. L. Cervinka considered that
Valy belonged to the 11th and 12th centuries A.D. In 1954, following the successful work
at Start Mbto, exploratory trenches were dug on the north side of the Valy fortifications.
Several graves and the traces of a stone building were revealed almost immediately. One
of the graves yielded silver ornaments and two necklaces, which were assigned to the
beginning of the 10th century. As the graves had been dug clear of the building it was
considered probable that it represented the remains of a 9th century church. A systematic
excavation of the site was accordingly undertaken in 1955 under the author’s direction.
First to be exposed were the foundations of a small stone church with a rectangular
presbytery and with a sacristy on the north side (FIG. IA).An older building could be traced
under this church (FIG.IB), and a little further east lay fragments of another church (FIG. IC)
whose exact plan could not be ascertained. Within its compass, however, were included
the graves of two nobles which contained heavy iron swords of a late Frankish pattern-
J. Petersen’s type K. Another grave yielded objects cast in bronze, of the kind called
‘Avar ’ work. These circumstances indicate that the church C dates from the early 9th
century and is thus the oldest known Christian building in central Europe.
Some 200 graves are associated with church A at MikulEice. The ornaments recovered
from them are generally silver, gilt, or bronze. They resemble those found at Star6 MZsto..
164
 SOME EARLY CHRISTIAN REMAINS I N SOUTHERN MORAVIA
A particularly interesting grave, that of a nobleman, contained two pairs of spurs. One
pair were of iron and the other of bronze heavily gilt (PLATE XIX).The latter had side pieces
richly decorated with human faces in relief. Accompanying the spurs was much other
finely gilt metal work. At the west end of the church was discovered the grave of a six-
year-old boy. Buried with him was a leather belt with a silver-gilt endpiece; the outer
surface is finely ornamented and on the inner is engraved the figure of a priest in a
ceremonial attitude (PLATE XVIII (a & b) ). This is the first object of its kind to be discovered
among the Slavs north of the Danube and despite indications of some Byzantine and
Western influence we are compelled to assign a local origin to it. Both this belt ornament
and the gilt spurs show that the church site was reserved for the graves of the ruling feudal
class. The graves date mainly from the second half of the 9th century but it appears that
the church was built before the arrival in Moravia of SS. Cyril and Methodius in 863.

0 4 6 =A a B mc
FIG. I. MikulEice. A. Church. B. building with mortar floor. C. earliest church.

The MikulEice excavations were continued in 195657 towards the centre of the fortifi-
cations. They brought to light the foundations of a further church, with three aisles, some
120 ft. long and 33 ft. wide (FIG. 2). Over 400 burials were found in its neighbourhood,
and the aisles and narthex contained remains of masonry tombs. Many of the skeletons
had gold and silver jewellery by them while heavy two-edged swords were found in the
graves of six noblemen. Of special interest was the discovery of a gold coin of the emperor
Michael 111 dating from the years 85666. This fact, together with other archaeological
evidence, establishes that a great church building (at present the greatest known north
of the Danube) stood here at the time of the mission of SS. Cyril and Methodius. The
three aisles were, in all probability, already in existence in the first half of the 9th century.
The results of the MikulEice excavations do not so far provide conclusive evidence
concerning the function of the fort in the political organization of Greater Moravia.
The present acropolis, occupying some 15 acres and containing both wood and masonry
in the remains of its massive defence works, superseded a Slavonic timber stockade of the
7th-Sth century. This has been dated by the discovery of spurs with hooks-the
' Hackensporen ' of German archaeologists. The site was thus not that of a simpSe agri-
cultural settlement but rather the seat of a military leader. The later fortifications belong
 ANTIQUITY
c N

FIG..2. MikulEice. Church with three aisles.

to the end of the 8th or the beginning of the 9th century and are the work of Prince Mojmir
or one of his predecessors. The acropolis was occupied by an aristocracy which buried its
dead in and around its churches (indeed, we may yet hope to come upon a third church,
and the prince’s residence itself) while an extensive ‘ castle-town ’ or subburgium im-
mediately adjacent to it contained a burial ground for the ordinary people. Traces of stone
buildings have been discovered in this subburgium, and it is quite possible that artisans’
workshops will come to light here as at Stark Mbto.
It will be many years before we shall possess a comprehensive view of the Valy complex,
though eventually our knowledge of the rise and development of the town in central and
western Europe will be substantially increased through it. At present we can say with
certainty that the right bank of the Morava at MikulEice was the site of an important
administrative and economic centre of the Greater Moravian state of the 9th century.
Early in the 10th century increasing Magyar pressure began to disrupt its organization,
and Valy was one of several sites to be abandoned. Political power was gradually trans-
ferred westwards, to the Pfemyslide state emerging in Bohemia.
Both at Stark MEsto and at MikulEice our excavations have demonstrated that Greater
Moravia possessed a developed administrative system based on military strongholds which
at the same time served as centres of trade and religion. Artistically we see the Moravians
of that time capable of a strong and distinctive adaptation of Byzantine and Western
themes, and we may be sure of the preponderance of native influence in the growth of
their political institutions also. In a wider context the discovery of church buildings and
of artistic work on this scale implies the existence in the 9th century of a region of dis-
tinctively Central European culture of high level. Christianity, the progressive element
of the period, was an important component of this culture, and it is thus especially grati-
fying to have proof of its presence in Moravia as early as the first half of the 9th century,
before the advent of SS. Cyril and Methodius.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
HRUB-?,V. (1955). ‘ Stark Mbto-velkomoravskk pohfebiSt6 “ Na valich ” ; Monumentu Archae-
ologku, 111, Praha.’
BOHM,J . (f9$0).‘ Deux eglises datant de l’empire de Grand-Moravie dkcouvertes en Tchecos-
lovaquie , Byzuntinosluvku, XI/2, Praha.
POULfK, J. (1956). NBlez kostela z doby ifge VelkomoravskC v trati “ Spithlky ” ve Starkm Mest8 ’,
P a d t k y urcheologkkk, XLVI, 307 sl.
-(1957). Vjrsledkq vyzkumu na velkomoravskdm hradigti “ Valy ” u MikulEic ’, Pum’tky
archeologicke‘, XLVIII, 241388.
166
 PLATE XVlII

(c) (4
FINDSFROM MIKULEICE.
(a, b, c ) Silver Gilt Belt Ornaments. ( d ) Silver Crucifix. ( u ) and
(b) : 2; in. long, ( c ) : za in. long ; ( d ) : z in. long.
See p p . 163-166
 PLATE XIX

FINDS ( a ) Gilt spurs ; 5 in. ; ( b ) antler roundel,

FROM MIKULCICE. 2 in. ; ( c ) and (d) gold
ornaments, actual size.
[See fip. 163-166