Archaeologists uncovered a "Sacred Area" at ancient Thracian city of Perperikon

An area with numerous ancient temples and altars for sacrifices was discovered at Perperikon by the five-month archaeological expedition led by Professor Nikolay Ovcharov. Such a complex exists only in Rome, where it is called the "Sacred Area".

"A romantic fog has enveloped us on all sides, but this is the last day of the excavations. We also saw Perperikon in 40 degree heat and now in this fog in near freezing temperatures. We call it the Sacred Area because we found more temples, and the sacrificial altars from the 3rd-4th century that we're talking about. But, most importantly, with the results of the past years, it became clear that we actually have a complex of at least 5 or 6 temples that are located in this part of the southern quarter. This is something very important, so I made this analogy, actually, together with Assoc. Professor, Zdravko Dmitrov, our greatest specialist in Roman archaeology, that in fact this neighbourhood, this sacred quarter, this sacred area, Area Sacra, as it is in Latin, is very similar to this area that was uncovered in Ancient Rome.

- BNT: How many temples are there?

- Well, for now we have uncovered 6, plus the temple with the altar of Dionysus, frome earlier, which was actually famous throughout the then Ancient World," said Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov.

Image by BTA

Archaeologists uncover a complex of dwellings from the 13th-14th centuries at Perperikon (pictures)

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The ancient Thracian city of Perperikon is located in the Eastern Rhodope mountains, Southerm Bulgaria, 15 km northeast of the present-day town of Kardzhali, on a 470 m high rocky hill, which is thought to have been a sacred place.

Perperikon is the largest megalith ensemble site in the Balkans.

As an archaeological site, Perperikon is an 8,000-year-old prehistoric megalithic shrine, which was later built upon by the Thracians, the Romans, the Byzantines, and the medieval Bulgarian Empire.