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572 Violeta Periklieva, Ivaylo Markov Although unsuccessful, the most famous battle is the Battle of Kleidion (also known as the Battle of Belasitsa),” which took place on July 29, 1014, between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Kingdom. It was the culmination of the nearly half-century struggle between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Kingdom in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. The result was a decisive Byzantine victory. The battle took place in the valley between the mountains of Belasitsa and Ograzhden near the modern Bulgarian village of Klyuch in the region of Petrich. ‘The decisive encounter occurred on July 29 with an attack in the rear by a force under the command of Byzantine general Nikephoros Xiphias, who had infiltrated the Bulgarian positions. The ensuing battle was a major defeat for the Bulgarians. The Bulgarian soldiers were captured and reputedly blinded by order of Emperor Basil II, who would subsequently be known as the “Bulgar-Slayer”. King Samuel survived the battle but died two months later from a heart attack, reportedly brought on by the sight of his blind soldiers. The heirs of Samuel could not subsequently hold off the Byzantine advance and in 1018 the Bulgarian Kingdom was finally destroyed by Basil II. Cultural Memory Today, King Samuel and the Battle of Kleidion exist in the memory of the population of the region of Petrich mainly in the form of toponyms and related legends told by the local people. However, except for the villages of Samuilovo (possessive form of Samuel) and Samuilova krepost (Samuel’s fortress), which have borne these names for a relatively short period of time, there is no other toponym in the region of Petrich that refers directly to King Samuel and the Battle of Kleidion. In fact, each toponym could be associated with any other tragic and bloody event—for example from the Ottoman period. In confirmation of this assertion is the example of the etymology of the name of the village of Skrat. Today, there are two legends related to the origin of the name. According to the most widespread, the name Skrat derives from the Bulgarian word skrab (grief, sorrow); that is it is associated with the grief over Samuel's soldiers having been blinded and killed in the Battle of Kleidion. In fact, the first registrations of the legend on the field were made after Bogdan Filov’ scientifically introduced the etymology in 1915 (Filov 1993: 80). The second legend, which is rarely registered, refers to the older form of the village name (Iskrit) and to the Bulgarian word skrit (hidden)—that is the hidden Byzantine forces that attacked the Bulgarians from the rear. The latter legend has : The battle is referred to by two names. The first one, the Battle of Kleidion, derives from the Greek name of the gorge where the battle took place. In Bulgarian kleidion is translated as “klyuch” meaning a key. One of the villages near the scene of the battle is also named Klyuch. The second name, the Battle of Belasitsa, is related to the name of the mountain at whose foot the battle took place. > Bogdan Filov was a Bulgarian archaeologist, art historian, and politician. He was prime minister of Bulgaria during World War II.
