My Gorna Arda

Thracian Sanctuary "Eagle’s Cliffs"

The Thracian Sanctuary is placed at about 3 kilometers south of Ardino. This is a unique Ancient Thrace artifact in Bulgaria. The cliffs were excavated by a human at an inaccessible height – more than a hundred rock niches called necropolis, were made in the form of a trapezium. Now there are 97 excavations. Due to the grate inclination of the place, the height of the cliff is not equal on its sides. It is higher on the west – about 30 meters, on the south and on the north it is about 25 meters, and it is lowest on the east – 10-12 meters. The greatest number of niches – 55, is on the west side of the cliff. Five or six of them were destroyed by the weather conditions, but it is possible that they had not been finished at all. There are 35 excavations of the south side; five on the north one, and on the east side, which is the easiest to access, there are five or six nearly ruined necropolis. There is no specific order in their arrangement. The ancient stone carver used any smooth place on the cliff to create single or multiple openings in the soft volcanic rock. All forms are trapezium, but the size varies. According to some scientists, those niches were made by the odrisses (an ancient Trace tribe) and date back to the first millennium of the New Era. The excavations had a cult functions. Some cult pots were placed there during celebrations. Some archeologists consider that this sanctuary dates back to V-IV century A.C., basing their thesis on ceramic fragments, found under the cliffs. According to Professor Georgi Mihaylov, the Thracian Sanctuary is a place of cult. He considers that the Thracians made their sanctuaries on places with specific natural characteristics, recognizing them as a demonstration of divine power. The internal sides of the numerous clay particles, found around the Eagle’s Cliffs, are burnt. This fact supports the proposition that Thracians filled the pot with some kind of combustible liquid, fired it and put the burning pots in the rock niches. This rite was executed during especially solemn cases, i.e. before or after a war. It is possible that niches were tombs where Thracians put the dead people’s dust. The sanctuary is declared a cultural artifact.