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Visualization of Policies of Cultural Memory Construction pressions. Ihe problem of the role of state policies in the construction of cultural memory and of the use of the cultural memory in various state policies has an important place in the frameworks of nationalism and cross-border studies. Ihis applies particularly to the case of the Balkans, where, in historical aspect, identity has often been a target of speculations and propaganda and of more or less forcible substitution, while the boundaries have reshaped the territory of the peninsula more than once. Ihus, guite often the population of two or more neighbouring countries shares the same cultural and historical heritage. Ihis heritage could become a basis for the construction of different cultural memories according to the specific national context. The case in point in this chapter is the construction of the cultural memory of King Samuel and the Battle of Kleidion of 1014 in the region of Petrich, in southwest Bulgaria. The study is based on the authors’ fieldwork conducted in July 2014 for the project “Study on the Memory of the Events Related to the Reign of King Samuel and the Battle of Kleidion”' and on an analysis of various visual art materials: paintings, sculptures, monuments, illustrations, and so forth. All these materials have been popularized through reproductions in schoolbooks, encyclopaedias, historical literature, print media, and posters. King Samuel and the Battle of Kleidion: Brief History Samuel was the king of the First Bulgarian Kingdom in the period from 997 to 1014. His rule was characterized by the struggle to preserve Bulgaria’s independence from the Byzantine Empire and, thus, by constant warfare. During his time the capital of the Bulgarian Kingdom moved to Ohrid (today in the Republic of Macedonia), which more than nine centuries later became grounds for the Republic of Macedonia to claim that King Samuel was a Macedonian ruler. Today, in the collective memory of the people, King Samuel is mainly related to two military events. The first battle dates back to the time when, after the Bulgarian King Boris I and his brother Roman were taken captive by the Byzantines, Samuel ruled Bulgaria together with his three brothers. The event is referred to as the Battle of the Gates of Trajan. The battle between Bulgaria and Byzantium took place in 986 in the Gates of Trajan Pass in the Sredna Gora Mountains, near Ihtiman. After an unsuccessful siege of Sofia, the Byzantine Emperor Basil II and his army retreated to Thrace but were surrounded in the pass by the Bulgarian army under the command of Samuel. Thus, the Battle of the Gates of Trajan became the largest defeat of the Byzantines under Emperor Basil II. ' The project is part of the initiative for the commemoration of 1,000 years since the Battle of Kleidion and the death of King Samuel. The project has been financed by the Council of Ministers. 571
