Murfatlar Rock-Cut Ensemble

Discovery

The ensemble stands on the north-western slope of Tibișir Hill, at the south-western edge of Murfatlar, above the former Carasu Valley, today the Danube–Black Sea Canal. On the afternoon of 11 June 1957, the extension of the chalk quarry, after blasting, came upon a little church cut in the rock, later called B1. The research of 1957-1962 was led by Ion Barnea, with Petre Diaconu, Adrian Rădulescu, Radu Florescu and the architects Virgil and Liana Bilciurescu, from the Institute of Archaeology in Bucharest and the Constanța museum.

History and dating

The National History and Archaeology Museum of Constanța dates the complex to the tenth century. On the wall to the right of the entrance into B1, in Cyrillic letters, one reads “leat 6500”, that is the year 992. In B4, a Greek graffito mentions the year 982. The site is a historic monument of category A, with the LMI code CT-I-s-A-02585. The researched area measures about 200 metres by 50.

The six little churches, the cells, the galleries and the tombs belong to a medieval chalk quarry. The blocks taken from here served, also in the tenth century, to raise the stone rampart on the segment between Murfatlar and Valea Seacă. The complex functioned briefly, probably in turn, not all the churches at once.

Architectural description

B1, B2, B3 and B4 are cut in the chalk massif, with narthex, nave and sanctuary; E3 and E5 stand further to the south-west. On the soft walls appear crosses, riders, horses, ships, labyrinths and inscriptions in Cyrillic, runes, Greek and, rarely, Glagolitic. The chalk flakes easily, which is why the monument was long only partly sheltered.

The site is closed to the public. Constanța County Council approved in 2026 a conservation project, still seeking funding. Do not enter the grottos on your own and do not climb the quarry faces. The official file is at MINAC.