Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Archaeologists discover 6th-century rotunda mausoleum at ancient city of Perperikon

Photo: gov.bg

Bulgaria's leading archaeologist, Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov, and his team have found a rotunda mausoleum at one of Bulgaria's emblematic archaological sites - the ancient rock city of Perperikon.

The new site is a rotunda mausoleum rotunda of the bishops dating from the 6th century. This is the last discovery of the team of Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov in the site of Perperikon.
"We were hoping to find the rich residence of the bishops of the entire Rhodopes, whose centre in the 6th century was on Perperikon," says the archaeologist. according to his assumptions, the residence was supposed to be located at 50 metres west of the largest early-Christian church in the Rhodopes, discovered by the same team five years ago. Nikolay Ovcharov recalls that the nearly 40-metre-long church is decorated with monumental colonnades and stone sculptures.
The archaeological team came across a building with “only a few analogies in the late Roman Empire.” The plan of the monumental building is an ideal circle with a diameter of 7.50 m. Similar rotundas were designed in antiquity, but perhaps the most famous is the Pantheon in Rome. With the adoption of Christianity, this shape was mainly used in the construction of mausoleums of notable persons, and it is assumed that the rotunda of Perperikon performed these functions.
The excavations at Perperikon will continue for another month and after their completion new and interesting results are expected, adds Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

"Ten Great Friends of Bulgaria" tells about foreigners who left their mark on Bulgarian history

The book "Ten Great Friends of Bulgaria" by journalist Milena Dimitrova will be presented this evening at 6pm at the Sts. Cyril and Methodius National Library in Sofia. The book recounts the lives of ten people of different nationalities and eras, whose..

published on 11/19/24 8:40 AM

Historian Matthew Sears talks about the influence of Thracian heritage on ancient Athens

The Getty Museum in Los Angeles, USA, is hosting a webinar today entitled  Who Were the Thracians? Professor of Classical and Ancient History Matthew Sears will discuss the Thracian legacy and its influence on ancient Athens. Sears is the author of..

published on 11/19/24 7:10 AM

Codes of Identity: Exhibition presents Bulgaria's ancient families and the 130-year life of Yoncho Pelovsky

The exhibition "Codes of Identity", which opens today in Sofia, presents ancient Bulgarian lineages that have left a lasting legacy. The venue is the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NAIM-BAS) In..

published on 11/14/24 7:45 AM