On Fortification of “The Great City” of Bilyar

The article offers results of the archaeological study of fortifi cations on the Bilyar fortifi ed settlement ? the capital of the Volga Bulgaria in pre-Mongol time. Its defensive structures represent complex systems of walls, ditches and wooden fortifi cations set in several lines. Two main lines of defense were studied: the external and the internal cities. The external belt of defense of the settlement consists of three parallel rows of walls and ditches and was erected in three construction periods. The internal line of defense consists of two rows of walls and ditches, and the study revealed traces of four stages of construction there. All stages of defense works in Bilyar chronologically fi t within the fi rst half of 10th ? early 13th centuries.