The text aims to examine the first Bulgarian capital Pliska in the perspective of historical ethnology. The study is concentrated on the period from the late 19th c. till the early 21st c., in which Pliska was “reborn” in the national cultural memory as the first capital of the Bulgarian state. The process of constructing ideas about the first Bulgarian capital depends on the political context and passes through various stages. While in the national narrative Pliska is mainly associated with the formation of the Bulgarian state, on a local level, initiatives and public space shaping in the last decade have been focusing on Knyaz Boris I and the adoption of Christianity and the Cyrillic alphabet. On the national level, such considerations have led to the initiative of rebuilding the Grand Basilica. It reflects the trend of rebuilding a number of historical sites, motivated both by a desire to develop cultural and religious tourism and by increasing nationalist tendencies.