Durankulak Lake is a protected area situated at the seaside less than six km south of the Bulgarian-Romanian border. It is world famous for hosting more than 250 rare species – fish, reptiles, amphibians, marsh birds and plants, many of them included in the Red Book of Endangered Species in Bulgaria.

However, it is not only nature that attracts experts and tourists to this place of beauty. On one of the islands in the lake, you will find an archaeological park that scientists call “the Bulgarian Troy”. The stone architectural complex (the oldest monumental structure in Europe) and the temple of Kibela – the great goddess-mother – dates back some 7000 years. Kibela was one of the last surviving pagan gods and her rites involved male castration.

Durankulak archaeological park is the largest aeneolithic settlement found in the world. It existed permanently for more than 1500 years (5300 to 3800 BCE) and it was inhabited, with some interruptions, for more than 6000 years.

I have had the pleasure of visiting the beautiful lake and the excavations several times in the past six years and have always been very impressed by the care and dedication its keepers give to it.

This summer Lilly and I decided to invite friends of ours from Croatia to visit the region; we stayed at the wonderful Villa Kibela (villakibela.com) in Krapets near Durankulak Lake.

One of our friends is a history professor and obviously most interested in the excavations. To our horror, we found the site in total disarray, planks from the stairs missing, signs demolished, and all the paths totally overgrown. The next day we enquired at the museum of Dobrich, which is responsible for the site, and they told us that they have been waiting for several years now for documentation from the Cabinet to certify their responsibility and authority. These documents are required to legally raise funds for the maintenance of this project since they do not have the needed 7500 euro a year for maintenance and guards.

At the lake, which is supposed to be a state-protected area and is listed by the United Nations (UNEP – United Nations Environment Programme and WCMC – World Conservation Monitoring Centre, unep-wcmc.org), I saw very few signs of protection.

On the contrary, I noticed that in the previous year, the Zlatna Ribka restaurant had been enlarged to include a hotel, and the anglers’ lodge was in the process of at least a 30 per cent expansion. Even an amateur observer like me can do the maths on the increase of pollution into the lake.

Locals told me that there was even a practice at the lake to use illegal electric fishing techniques, which kills hundreds of fish at the same time while the only interest is some larger ones. It is obvious that the clients of the restaurant are eating up this treasure.

I understand that Stefan Sofianski, the former mayor of Sofia and an MP in Bulgaria’s Parliament, owns a villa in a nearby village and is a frequent visitor to the restaurant. Rumour has it that his interest in the development is more than culinary, but as you know, I do not listen to rumours…

Further south is the town of Balchik, where another more recent temple of Kibela has been discovered. Here, a local business man was in the process of building a hotel. Although he and his workers were trying to disguise the discovery, a vigilant neighbour tipped of the local museum archaeologist and the work was quickly stopped. While waiting for the paperwork to arrive, the builder quickly poured cement to make the job for the archaeologist a little harder. This discovery is so important, that National Geographic Magazine (Bulgarian language edition – August 2007) has already covered the excavation.

Although the municipality quickly jumped in with some cash, the minister is still on holiday.

Koos Jan Schouten (1954) was born in Amsterdam, has lived in Bulgaria since 1998, owns www.webfactory.bg and has been married since 2002 to his lovely Lilly.