Lardea was founded in the late 3rd or early 4th century. In 705, it was ceded to the Bulgarian Empire along with the Zagore area by the Byzantine Empire. After the Byzantine–Bulgarian Treaty of 815, its fortifications were reinforced. Lardea was conquered by the Byzantine Empire in the aftermath of the Rus' invasion of Bulgaria (967–971). In 1051 or 1052, Nikephoros Bryennios defeated a Pecheneg detachment near Lardea. According to "Alexiad" by Anna Komnene, the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118) spent 40 days in the fortress during his war with the Pechenegs in 1088. In her account, Komnene describes the fortress as lying between Diampolis and Goloe.