Thracian Civilization

The archaeological research of the Thracian culture started in the 20th century and especially after World War II, mainly on the territory of Southern Bulgaria. As a result of intensive excavation works in the 1960s and 1970s a number of Thracian tombs and sanctuaries were discovered. More significant among them are: the Tomb of Sveshtari, the Tomb of Kazanlak, Tatul, Seuthopolis, Perperikon, the Tomb of Aleksandrovo, Sarmizegetusa, etc.

Also a large number of elaborately crafted gold and silver treasure sets from the 5th and 4th century BC were unearthed. In the following decades those were exposed in museums around the world, thus gaining popularity and becoming an emblem of the ancient Thracian culture. Since the year 2000, Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov has made discoveries in Central Bulgaria which were summarized as "The Valley of the Thracian Kings".

On 19 August 2005, some Bulgarian archaeologists announced they had found the first Thracian capital, which was situated near Karlovo in Bulgaria. A lot of polished ceramic artifacts (pieces of roof-tiles and Greek-like vases) were discovered revealing the fortune of the city. The Bulgarian Ministry of Culture declared its support to the excavations.

In Dabene, Bulgaria, a cache of more than 15,000 gold Thracian artifacts were discovered, including thousands of rings. In August 2006 a sensational archaeological find was made near the village of Dubovo. A Thracian dagger made of an alloy of gold and platinum, sharp, and in perfect condition, was found in a tomb near the village of Dubovo.

tombs with mural paintings have been discovered near the town of Kazanlak so far. They prove the wide use of art of painting as a detail of inside decoration of the Thracian tombs during the Hellenic period. Undoubtedly the most interesting tomb is the Kazanlak Thracian Tomb.
An important moment for a substantial research of the history, culture and the urban development of the Thracian tribes during the early Hellenic period are the salvage excavations, undertaken because of the building of "Koprinca" dam. An ancient Thracian town -- Sevtopolis is discovered.
Around 6000 years ago, between the fifth and the second millennium B.C., the climate became warmer and the icebergs on the Earth quickly started melting. The water in the oceans and seas rose with 3 meters.
Fewer than 100 are the Thracian undermounded constructed structures in Bulgaria, which are usually called tombs. Fifteen buildings like these are put up in Kazanlak valley.
In the middle of our country, cuddled between the two big mountain ranges Stara planina and Sredna gora, is situated the Kazanlak valley. The land, amazing with its beauty, inebriates with its sweet scents and fascinates with its ancient history.
Bulgaria gold treasure tourism God music video Mystery property folklore world song winner JOURNEY LAND THRACIAN KINGS
Legend has it that about 9 - 10 millennia BC, after the submerging of Atlantis the only surviving principality was the "Manou - meaning "Principality of Knowledge"). The survivors found shelter in South-Eastern Europe, where they merged with the natives. The legend says that this is how the Thracians came to be. From the Carpathians to the Aegean, from the Adriatic to the Black Sea the numerous Thracian tribes spread but their peace did not lost very long. Then in the III century BC other tribes invaded from North. The Illyrians swept from Northwest and pushed the Thracians eastward. As a result some of the Thracian tribes searched for new land in the Near East. The Thracians were warriors, horse breeders, potters, weavers, goldsmiths and philosophers. Democritus and Protagoras were born in Abdera Thrace. They took part in the Trojan War as Trojan allies.. Homer first mentioned them in "Iliad". Courageous and daring warriors, they were hired mercenaries in the armies of the Hellenic era. Later they joined the Roman auxiliary troops, and from the second century onwards were in their legions. The Thracian soldiers were fearless, ready to face death, believing that beyond was another, better life, closer his Gods. Spartacus was one of them. During the IV century BC, Phillip II of Macedonia conquered the lands of the Thracians. His physician, a Thracian, was the father of Aristotle, the great philosopher who in his turn became Alexander the Great's tutor. Celts came to the Thracian lands at the beginning of the third century BC. They established a number of kingdoms on these lands, after stealing the gold from Apollo's tomb, which they dispersed to settle over the entire continent, reaching the British Isles, settling in Ireland. At the beginning of the 1st century AD, the Thracians joined the Roman Empire. Then they became part of the Eastern Roman Empire. The Slavs who in their turn came to the Balkan Peninsula during the 4-th century AD, and became part of the ethnic roots of the Bulgarians. The Thracians, through their philosophers, impacted the ancient Mediterranean civilization (Greco-Hellenic and Roman). Their cultural heritage, aside from the atomistic theory of Democritus, or the view that man is the measure of all things as propounded by Protagoras, and the Cybernetic view of the World that Artistotle proposed, reflecting the Thracian religion that the world was made of small particles in constant motion. They has left us with many examples of gold, silver and bronze ornaments, arms, tools and vessels. The Thracian culture that emerged, blending their own unique view of the world with those of other nations, became a link between Europe and the East. Indicative of the rich spiritual make-up, the Thracians, was the multiplicity of religious cults they upheld. They worshipped the Horseman and his female counterpart Bendida; they partook in the Dionysian orgies; upheld the Orphic teaching, based on the Dionysian cult, a God in the Thracian Pantheon. We would like you to join us on a tour to the valley of the Thracians rulers. Today, this valley is replete with tumular Temples and burial Monuments, Mounts, testifying to their great civilization .The multitude of gold, silver, iron and clay objects found so far and the numerous studied tombs are lasting marks left from the ancient Thracians' culture, revealing their notions of the world. It is here, at the bottom of Koprinka dam - lake one can still find remains of Seuthopolis - the Odrysae state capital from the time of Seuthe III, the only Thracian city that has been completely excavated, preserved and researched. With this tale we would like to take you to the dawn of our civilization, the way it has been preserved by wisdom of time as we believe that in order to live better in the contemporary world one should know its ancient roots.
My encounters with the monuments of human civilization on the territory of Bulgaria today were an exciting challenge for me.

Working on this project gave me the opportunity to travel again across my beautiful country viewing it from an entirely new perspective.

I had the opportunity to visit the Valley of the Thracian Kings near Kazanlak and ex¬amine in tranquility the magnificent paintings of the tomb from Kazanlak, the tomb from Alexandrovo near Haskovo and the strange stone figures in the tomb from Svesluary near the town of Isperih. The feeling was odd - in the complete silence I had the sense of being an intruder let in there by mistake - a disturber of the eternal peace of these sophisticated and proud people.

While photographing I started painting with the light - my basic means of expression - rather than simply "lighting up".

I felt thai taking just "photographs of museum exponents" was not enough for me and wherever I came across a human face - in pottery, silver and gold - I aimed at achieving my attitude while portraying living people. I tried to reach a human touch with these beautiful images.

It may sound strange to you but I started finding resemblance between the human images - objects of my work, and people I meet accidentally during my journeys around Bulgaria. And it already seems to me completely natural, despite the thousands of years rhat have passed - today we arc Temporarily inhabiting the highest stratum, the same places where the heroes of this exhibition have once lived.

I had the ultimate pleasure of associating with my hosts - the museum people of Varna, Burgas, Sozopol and Nessebar, Kazanlak, Haskovo, Nova Zagora and Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, Vratza, Pleven, Silistra, Sofia - the Archeological Museum and the National Historical Museum. Warm people met me everywhere, excellent specialists bestowing great care on rich museum collections.

Seeing the wealth of these extraordinary museums spread all over Bulgaria, I realized that what I have photographed for this travelling exhibition is only the peak of an iceberg. These are just the main strokes of a picture, which is constantly complemented and enriched by new discoveries. Ihe museums' funds and their permanent exhibitions display are the source of inexhaustible opportunities for comparisons and reflections. Therefore the true place for a real communion with our unique cultural-historical heritage is Bulgaria itself - the cradle of ancient civilizations.

Ivo Hadjimishev


The lands of present day Bulgaria arc situated at a crossroads - very important in antiquity - connecting culturally undeveloped Europe with the developed civilizations of Asia Minor. The migrations through over it were directed from the poor North to the rich South, and cultural influences were going in the opposite direction.

The compactness of the ancient cultural layers in the Bulgarian lauds is so saturated that even the large scale treasure-hunting during the last two decades was not able to destroy it.

The finds from the Neolithic period (7-6 millennia BC) give an idea of beliefs and art of the first farmers, who were closely connected with the Anatolian culture.

The Chalcolith the Copper Age (5th millennia BC) gave birth to a new European civilization. The Varna necropolis comprises quantities of splendid gold objects unseen before - symbols of power and sacred symbols of the early rulers.

The Bronze Age starts a new page in the ideology of the ancient world. At the very end of this period the Thracians - the most numerous people after the Indians, came to the Balkans.

The presence of the Thracians is marked through ritual burials of treasures. Thrace shows the richest in Europe findings of this kind. Many precious objects came to us from the treasures.