Problems related to the chronology and character of the earliest monuments in Pliska, which are debatable in the Bulgarian historical and archaeological literature, are considered in the article. According to the author, there is no reason to believe Pliska capital of Danube Bulgaria from the time of Asparukh. Contrary to the opinion of R. Rashev and several other Bulgarian archaeologists, there is no evidence of the existence of Pliska as the old (proto)Bulgarian centre of Danube Bulgaria in the period from the late 7^th to the end of the 8^th century, All the buildings and other archaeological materials discovered in Pliska are dated to not earlier than the late 8^th – early 11^th century. The only written record about the foundation of Pliska byAsparukh is contained in the annals of a later time (late 11^th – early 12^th century) and cannot be considered reliable. Thus, it is argued that Pliska had become the leading center of public and cultural life of the Bulgarian state only in the late 8^th century, while the majority of its monuments and related materials refer to the 9^th century. According to the historical, archaeological and numismatic data available, the national center of Danubian Bulgaria was situated in the vicinity of contemporary Varna in the late 7^th through 8^th century.