Archaeologists found Royal tomb in the village of Manole

Archaeologists discovered a monumental imperial tomb from the Roman era near Plovdiv. The large find is some meters away from the top of the biggest mound in Bulgaria near Manole village. The archaeological researches there began two years ago.

The tomb, which is an extremely large find, is 7 to 7 meters in size. Thanks to electrotomographic studies, scientists have also been able to specify the depth of the tomb – it is over 5 meters deep.

Assoc. Prof. Kostadin Kisyov - Archaeologist and Director of the Regional Archaeological Museum - Plovdiv: We are still at the beginning. We are at a depth of 5 meters from the top of the mound, and we have uncovered the roof of the tomb that was partly destroyed by secondary trench excavations, but according to our research, we have to explore about 4.55 meters deep until we reach the actual burial chamber. The tomb was probably about 5 meters high. In my opinion, it was of a Thracian ruler who ruled in the middle of 3rd century AD during the so-called Roman emperors, when power in the Roman Empire was taken by people who had no ancestry and had nothing to do with power. The most characteristic indicator that the tomb itself is probably associated with one of the Thracian rulers is its location on a mound.

Several bronze coins were found around the tomb, as well as ceramics.

Assoc. Prof. Kostadin Kisyov: In fact, the date is determined not only by the way of construction and the materials used, but also by the five coins and the pottery we found in the tomb - that's part of the ritual. The coins are bronze and are exactly from the middle of the 3rd century.