Archaeological excavations in Heraclea Sintica near Bulgaria’s Petrich continue

Archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica (near the town of Petrich in Southwest Bulgaria) began this summer in July, but were suspended due to lack of funds.

The ancient city of Heraclea Sintica which was the main settlement of the Middle Struma valley region for more than 700 years ‒ from the second half of the 4th c. BC till ca. AD 400

Valuable artifacts were found.

Assoc. Prof. Lyudmil Vagalinski: In July, when we worked with funding from the municipality of Petrich, we found a statue, a very interesting one, relatively from 1-2 century, well made. I am also very happy with the inscription we found on the last day, as it carries interesting information about the city. Moreover, it is in Latin, which is extremely rare. I even hope to find parts of this inscription now, as it had broken during an earthquake at the end of the 4th century.

The site has been explored since 2007, and all valuable artefacts found by archaeologists are donated to the museum in Petrich.

Assoc. Prof. Lyudmil Vagalinski: We are going to take care of the walls we have discovered and the pavement. There will be other things until September 7. Heraclea always hides something interesting and new. It is good that this site is on the territory of Bulgaria.

With the money provided by the Ministry of Culture, experts hope to clarify more what the Roman square of Heraclea Sintica looked like in the 3-4th century.

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Heraclea Sintica is an Ancient Thracian, Greek, and Roman city located near the town of Petrich in Southwest Bulgaria. It was the centre of the ancient region of Sintica along the Struma River, which was inhabited by the Thracian tribe of the Sintians. The ancient city of Heraclea Sintica was mentioned by Homer, Herodotos, and Thycudides in their works. It was founded around 300 BC by Cassander, King of the Kingdom of Macedon (r. 305-297 BC), who also founded Thessaloniki.

In 2002, Bulgarian archaeologists managed to identify the city after they found a Latin inscription dated back to 308 AD, in which Roman Emperor Galerius (r. 293-305 AD as Caesar, 305-311 AD as Augustus) addressed the local urban citizens of Heraclea Sintica responding to a plea to restore their lost civil rights. In the late Antiquity, the city of Heraclea Sintica gradualy waned and was replaced by nearby Sveti Vrach (today’s town of Sandanski) as a regional center.