Zaldapa

Zaldapa lies near the modern village of Abrit and was an important fortified centre in late antique Dobrudja. Its extensive defended area and surviving wall lines show an urban settlement larger than any single church. Excavations revealed an episcopal basilica of the early sixth century above an earlier church. Crypts and a marble sanctuary screen are particularly significant for understanding Christian worship. A place intended for relics, however, does not by itself identify the martyrs once venerated there. Earlier researchers connected these ruins with Abritus, an identification abandoned after Abritus was located near Razgrad. The modern village name therefore cannot serve as independent proof of the ancient town’s identity, and individual building phases still require archaeological interpretation.