IN an unprecedented move on October 7, the Government decided to provide 50 000 leva towards the completion of excavations near the town of Shipka, where unique treasures of the ancient Thracians have been uncovered.
The funds will be provided from the executive budget. Regional Development and Public Works Minister Valentin Tserovski told his colleagues that his ministry had already decided to improve infrastructure in the area. The goal is to make it accessible for tourists.
The Government's decision to provide funding for the project came three days after the TEMP expedition headed by archaeologist Dr Georgi Kitov unearthed a unique gold and silver treasure beneath Golyamata Kosmatka tomb near Shipka.
The treasure was discovered in the largest tomb on Bulgarian territory. It consists of 73 items, including a gold wreath and horse trappings, a visor, gold ornaments of a sword, and gold horse harness. The architecture of the tomb is unique for both Bulgaria and the rest of the world, Kitov said.
The burial probably dates to the late 5th or the early 4th centuries BCE. An exquisitely crafted bronze head of a Thracian ruler was found in a five-metre deep pit in front of Golyamata Kosmatka burial mound on September 22, following the unearthing of a gold death mask in August.
The archaeologists reached the chambers through a 13-metre long passage. The doors of the chambers are of marble and are adorned with human figures and iron nail imitations, as well as sculptural ornaments painted in blue and red.
"These are the first doors of this kind to be found ever in Bulgaria," Kitov said.
Today, Bulgaria is seen as the geographical cradle of Thracian civilisation, which extended from the Caucasus to South-Western Europe from the fourth millennium BCE to the third century CE.
Since 2000, Bulgarian archaeologists have unearthed the largest Thracian temple, dating from the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, and the first sanctuary-palace of a Thracian king identified so far, both in Southern Bulgaria. But much of the Thracian civilisation remains a mystery despite major discoveries in recent years.
Archaeologists estimate that several thousand sites have yet to be explored, although thousands more have fallen prey to treasure hunters.
About 90 per cent of the 15 000 Thracian burial tombs in Bulgaria have been ravaged and rendered practically useless for archeologists.
"Because of the lack of funds, official expeditions have explored no more than 70 tombs", said Kitov, whose team has already worked on 37 Thracian burial mounds. According to him, there is lots of gold buried in the Thracian tombs but the question now was whether they would find it before treasure-hunters did.
"If we had not found those precious objects, they would have become part of some private collection in the West, no one knowing or caring where they had come from", Kitov said.
President Georgi Purvanov suggested that the Thracian tomb near Shipka be included in the Balkan Cultural Corridors. He promised that next year he would bring to the site foreign heads of state visiting Bulgaria.
A civil movement for the preservation of monuments of Bulgarian history and culture will be set up within a month, Purvanov said. He said that the state should allocate sufficient funds for protecting monuments of culture in Bulgaria.
The Valley of Thracian Kings (thus named by Kitov) will be included in the EU cultural tourism routes, Foreign Minister Solomon Passi said on October 7, when he visited Golyamata Kosmatka and met the archaeologists.
Passy decorated Kitov with the Gold Badge of Honour of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Passi said that the Cabinet was considering giving a further 500 000 leva to the Ministry of Culture to be used for the needs of archaeology.
- Staff Reporter
The funds will be provided from the executive budget. Regional Development and Public Works Minister Valentin Tserovski told his colleagues that his ministry had already decided to improve infrastructure in the area. The goal is to make it accessible for tourists.
The Government's decision to provide funding for the project came three days after the TEMP expedition headed by archaeologist Dr Georgi Kitov unearthed a unique gold and silver treasure beneath Golyamata Kosmatka tomb near Shipka.
The treasure was discovered in the largest tomb on Bulgarian territory. It consists of 73 items, including a gold wreath and horse trappings, a visor, gold ornaments of a sword, and gold horse harness. The architecture of the tomb is unique for both Bulgaria and the rest of the world, Kitov said.
The burial probably dates to the late 5th or the early 4th centuries BCE. An exquisitely crafted bronze head of a Thracian ruler was found in a five-metre deep pit in front of Golyamata Kosmatka burial mound on September 22, following the unearthing of a gold death mask in August.
The archaeologists reached the chambers through a 13-metre long passage. The doors of the chambers are of marble and are adorned with human figures and iron nail imitations, as well as sculptural ornaments painted in blue and red.
"These are the first doors of this kind to be found ever in Bulgaria," Kitov said.
Today, Bulgaria is seen as the geographical cradle of Thracian civilisation, which extended from the Caucasus to South-Western Europe from the fourth millennium BCE to the third century CE.
Since 2000, Bulgarian archaeologists have unearthed the largest Thracian temple, dating from the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, and the first sanctuary-palace of a Thracian king identified so far, both in Southern Bulgaria. But much of the Thracian civilisation remains a mystery despite major discoveries in recent years.
Archaeologists estimate that several thousand sites have yet to be explored, although thousands more have fallen prey to treasure hunters.
About 90 per cent of the 15 000 Thracian burial tombs in Bulgaria have been ravaged and rendered practically useless for archeologists.
"Because of the lack of funds, official expeditions have explored no more than 70 tombs", said Kitov, whose team has already worked on 37 Thracian burial mounds. According to him, there is lots of gold buried in the Thracian tombs but the question now was whether they would find it before treasure-hunters did.
"If we had not found those precious objects, they would have become part of some private collection in the West, no one knowing or caring where they had come from", Kitov said.
President Georgi Purvanov suggested that the Thracian tomb near Shipka be included in the Balkan Cultural Corridors. He promised that next year he would bring to the site foreign heads of state visiting Bulgaria.
A civil movement for the preservation of monuments of Bulgarian history and culture will be set up within a month, Purvanov said. He said that the state should allocate sufficient funds for protecting monuments of culture in Bulgaria.
The Valley of Thracian Kings (thus named by Kitov) will be included in the EU cultural tourism routes, Foreign Minister Solomon Passi said on October 7, when he visited Golyamata Kosmatka and met the archaeologists.
Passy decorated Kitov with the Gold Badge of Honour of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Passi said that the Cabinet was considering giving a further 500 000 leva to the Ministry of Culture to be used for the needs of archaeology.
- Staff Reporter
