Atlas of Battles

battle, major, medieval

Battle of the Gates of Trajan

Battle of the Gates of Trajan was a battle fought on 17 August AD 986 at Gate of Trajan, in what is now Bulgaria. It was part of the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria. The recorded result: Bulgarian victory. Recorded strength: Unknown against 15,000–20,000.

See it on the globe Read the article

Left (from inside) arch of Trayanovi vrata fortress
Left (from inside) arch of Trayanovi vrata fortress. Vassia Atanassova - Spiritia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought17 August AD 986
WhereGate of Trajan, Bulgaria42.356N, 23.918E
OutcomeBulgarian victory
BelligerentsFirst Bulgarian EmpireagainstByzantine Empire
Casualties and lossesUnknown (Light)andUnknown (Heavy)
Part ofByzantine conquest of Bulgaria

Where it sits in the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria

Battle of the Gates of Trajan, AD 986Battle of Thessalonica, 1000Battle of Skopje, 1004Battle of Kleidion, 1014AD 9861014Battle of the Gates of Trajan, AD 986
4 placed engagements of the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date17 August AD 986
PlaceGate of Trajan, Bulgaria
42.356N, 23.918E
KindBattle, medieval
StrengthUnknown15,000–20,000
Casualties and lossesUnknown (Light)Unknown (Heavy)
Commanders
  • Samuel of Bulgaria
  • Roman of Bulgaria
Battle of the Gates of TrajanBattle of the Gates of TrajanBelovski RaidBattle of PetrichBattle of PhilippopolisBattle of TashkessenSiege of Serdica (809)Battle of PetrichBattle of PhilippopolisBattle of TashkessenNišStara ZagoraPlevenKhaskovoTurnovoKyustendilPernikVratsa100 km42.356N, 23.918E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of the Gates of Trajan
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 50 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of the Gates of Trajan today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-09-19. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 800 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 423 to 1,204 m, 782 m of relief, steep country and today it is 90% tree cover, 8% grassland.

tree cover: 90%grassland: 8%tree cover 90%grassland 8%
west to east, 10.0 km619 to 1,089 mnorth to south, 10.0 km728 to 1,144 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Battle of the Gates of Trajan is one of 167 engagements of the 10th century in the atlas and one of 118 in present-day Bulgaria.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q2292026, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of the Gates of Trajan, revision 1370599674, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.