Забележителности около Комплекс „Старосел“

The Thracian cult temple near the village of Starosel is an archaeological sensation of world fame. It consists of two Thracian temples dug under a mound. In 2000, Georgi Kitov came across the main temple (from the 5th century BC), which is located in Chetinyova Mogila. In 2002, the world saw the only heroon tomb with a colonnade, located in the Horizon mound.

A rock megalith located near the village of Stariosel. According to the Thracians, it personified the path of the soul to the afterlife through the gap between the stones, where the rays of the setting sun filter through.

Nearby you can see a Thracian tomb from the V-VI century BC.

Another legend says that it is a petrified girl, with her eyes fixed on the heavens, who was banished from her relatives after giving herself to her lover before they were married.

Garvanov kamak is located west of the Thracian cult center Starosel and is a megalith of several wind-blown rocks, among which the main "raven stone" stands out, which towers over the natural phenomenon like a tower.

It has an irregular shape and a diameter of about 10 km, including the rock sanctuaries - "Uyov kamik" (a unique phallus-shaped menhir destroyed by treasure hunters), the Momini skali spring in the "Kamenitsa" area, Peichova mound, the shrine on Kozi gramadi peak and several dozens of mounds , built on sacred hills.

According to the stories of local residents, before 1990, the Bulgarian Army used the peak as a target in a combat exercise and it was demolished. According to the stories, Crow Stone was fired from a range near the local dam.

Thracian architectural complex, which is located about 20 km from the village of Starosel and 22 km from the city of Hisarya. Archaeologists came upon it only in 2005, revealing that it consisted of an ancient fortress, a residence, mound necropolises and rock sanctuaries. At different levels there are remains of a fortress wall built in different historical periods, foundations of buildings, a monolithic rock altar and fragmented domestic pottery.

It is believed that Kozi Gramadi, along with Sevtopolis, was one of the two capitals of the Thracian kingdom of Odris, powerful and extending over the territory of today's Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece.

The rock sanctuary "Aleksitsa" is located on the peak of the same name above the village. Old village on the territory of a real Sredna Gora. The archaeological site is located on Mount Alexitsa (1535m above sea level) and is a rock culmination located on the relatively flat ridge of the mountain to the west of Mount Fenera (1480m above sea level).

The sanctuary was discovered in the summer of 2013 by an archaeological team led by the Bulgarian archaeologist Prof. Dr. Ivan Hristov during a tour of the herbal part of Sštinska Sredna Gora. The cult site is another rock sanctuary used by the ancient Thracians and marks the western periphery of the large highland cult complex centered on Mount Kozi Gramadi.

The Thracian residence "Smilovene" is located in the area of ​​the same name, 9.5 km from the town of Koprivshtitsa and about 11 km from the town of Strelcha.It is a fortified residence of a Thracian king from the 4th century BC. , and its area is at least 200 sq.m. and is two stories high.The residence was built on a mound, which was further cultivated and, unlike all similar sites, is not located on a high peak or hill, but at the foot of the hill, right next to the Strelchanska Luda Yana river.

The architecture of the site approaches that described by Xenophon residences of the Thracian rulers – turzis. According to the hypothesis of the researcher - the Bulgarian archaeologist Daniela Agre, a Thracian dynast lived in this well-fortified residence, ruled the area, and was probably buried after his death in the sub-tomb complex at Frog Mound near the town of Strelcha. This is the most massive Thracian fortified residence discovered on the territory of Bulgaria. In places, the fortification wall has been preserved up to 6 m high.

The Mark stones are a complex of ancient Thracian megalithic sanctuaries located in the area of ​​the same name north of the village of Panicheri. They represent eight megalithic clusters sacralized in ancient times. They are located in the localities Markov Kamak, Malki Markovi Kamani, Big Markovi Kamani, Markova Mogila.

According to archaeologists, the Mark stones are sanctuaries dedicated to the God of the Storm Zeus, Bulgarian archaeologists and ethnologists prove convincingly after their long studies. Fragments of Thracian pottery, dated generally to the 1st millennium BC, were found within all the marked localities.

The southern fortress gate is the main gate of the Roman city of Diocletianopolis. The road to Philippopolis (Plovdiv) - the most important administrative center in the Roman province of Thrace - started from here. The original gate is 13m high. It is called so because, at the beginning of the 20th century, the door was divided and resembled two camels standing against each other. In this place, in 1882, Ivan Vazov wrote one of his famous Bulgarian poems.