Karnobat history museum will apply again to the culture ministry for money to study the Markeli fortress, museum director Dr Rositsa Hristova told Bulgarian National Radio. Archaeologists worked at the site this summer for the first time in 15 years.

This story follows our earlier report on 46 coins and seals found during the dig at Markeli.

The last digs before this year's were in 2011. Hristova, who has worked at the fortress since 2004, says the gap was due to a lack of money. The museum became a secondary budget holder in 2024 and immediately applied to the ministry for funding.

This year the team studied and preserved the south-eastern sector, next to the southern fortress wall. Dimcho Momchilov is the scientific director of the site. The cost of the research and preservation is nearly 34,000, but the currency is not given.

The archaeologists found pottery from several eras. "Pottery from different periods, starting from the top and going down, you know, 11th–12th century, pottery from the 9th–10th century, and we reached the Byzantine period," Hristova said. The many coins and seals are now being cleaned. Once that is done, a scientific consultant will identify and describe them.

The fortress covers about 145 decares. The first digs here began in 1986, 40 years ago, but Hristova says only a very small part of the site has been uncovered so far. She says it will take many people, time and money to turn Markeli into a studied site that draws tourists. The museum wants the fortress to look like a visitor centre, with electricity, water and places to rest.

A fire damaged the fortress on 5 August last year. It destroyed part of the tourist trails and of the sections preserved and restored under a 2015 project, as well as the attraction at the Markeli Medieval Park.

"A large part of what was done under this project no longer exists, and Karnobat municipality and the museum face a big challenge," Hristova said. She says the municipality and the museum must rebuild what was lost and build on it.

The museum cannot yet get its insurance payout because the case is not closed. Even if it is paid, Hristova thinks it will not be enough to restore everything.