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The most popular destination for excursions from Shumen is the village of MADARA , 10km to the east and served by frequent trains, where a range of cliffs show signs of human occupation dating back to the third century BC. The main road through the village leads up to Madara's most famous sight, the mysterious bas-relief known as the Madara Horseman (daily: summer 8am-7pm; winter 8am-5pm; US$1.50). Carved into the rockface at a height of 95m, this is so eroded that details are only apparent by the light of a setting sun, but the carving is said to represent a horseman whose mount is trampling a lion with the assistance of a greyhound, while he holds the reins in one hand and a wine cup in the other. Various Greek inscriptions next to the carving provide ambiguous clues to its age: the oldest inscription, recording a debt owed by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II to Khan Tervel, suggests that the Bulgars carved the horseman in the eighth century. However, some scholars believe it is far older than that. The figure, they argue, represents the nameless rider-god of the Thracians, and is of Thracian or Getae origin, the inscriptions merely evidence that it was later appropriated by Bulgarian rulers.
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