Archaeology: Third century BCE Thracian temple found fully preserved in Bulgaria’s Plovdiv
A completely preserved Thracian temple, said to date from the third century BCE, has been discovered by archaeologists on the outskirts of Bulgaria’s city of Plovdiv in the second year of a study of the giant mound in the southern industrial zone.
Its construction technique is characteristic of the Thracians in the area that would become today’s Bulgaria – dry masonry and mortar of clay and sand in precisely defined proportions, sufficient to bring the plaster closer to the strength of concrete.
The site was inspected on August 22 by Plovdiv mayor Kostadin Dimitrov and other municipal officials, who were briefed by the head of Plovdiv’s Regional Archaeological Museum, Associate Professor Kostadin Kisyov, according to a statement by Plovdiv municipality.
The city administration wants to turn the site into an archaeological park.
Kisyov said that this is the first Thracian temple discovered in the Plovdiv area and it can be completely restored, since all the authentic building elements have been preserved in place.
“In practice, we have been conducting excavations for the third year already. Here, for the first time in Bulgaria, we discovered that there is a mediaeval church from the 12th-13th century on the top of the mound with a cemetery necropolis around it,” Kisyov said.
“However, the mound was not built for the sake of the church, but for the Thracian Christian temple at its base. It was built on this site because of its proximity to the pagan temple of the earlier period, which was a cult and sacred place for the people of Philippopolis,” he said, referring to an ancient name of Plovdiv.
First, the eastern and then the western rooms of the Thracian temple were discovered, where research continues, he said.
He said that the building is unique in its kind because the temples of an earlier era were built using Hellenic technology.
In the small room of the temple, bones of seven types of domestic animals were found, as well as remains of clay vessels, which means that it was used for rituals.
(Photo: Plovdiv municipality)
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