New archaeological finds at the ancient site of Perperikon

This year (2020) has been extremely successful for the archaeological team led by Prof. Nikolai Ovcharov, who has been studying Bulgaria’s ancient Perperikon site for 21 years.

For three months of hard work, despite the hot weather, a magnificent ensemble of 3 buildings has already been unearthed here. Among them is a rotunda, which is unique.

After the largest basilica in the Rhodopes was found 4 years ago at the foot of Perperikon, the task of archaeologists this year was to confirm that the spiritual centre of the mountain was near it.

"We already have unearthed 3 buildings: two rectangular and one rotunda, a round building, which was, most likely, for some of the bishops of this era of the Great Justinian," said Prof. Nikolai Ovcharov.

In the sixth century, Christianity was already established in these lands. This necessitated the construction of new temples.

"There are, you can see well, buildings carved into the rock, many buildings, several buildings that are connected to each other. This is a tradition that was quite popular in the Roman Empire at that time," said Prof. Ovcharov.

Perperikon is attracting more and more tourists, especially this year. Due to the pandemic, the number of visitors is higher than last year, as there are more people who prefer domestic tourism and get to know the native landmarks.

The season ends in 10 days. From now on, however, archaeologists know that next year they will have a lot of work and new discoveries at Perperikon, which has a history of 7,000 years.

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The ancient Thracian city of Perperikon is located in the Eastern Rhodopes, 15 km northeast of the present-day city of Kardzhali, Bulgaria, on a 470 m high rocky hill,

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.