Archaeologists Discover Nymph Sanctuary in Central Bulgaria
BalkanTravellers.com
The experts discovered an alley, leading to a spring and covered with limestone tiles decorated in a stand-out relief.
The find is a first of its kind in the region, Pavlina Vladkova, leader of the archaeological team, told national media. Until now, she said, the only testament of the nymph cult in Nicopolis ad Istrum used to be images on coins made in the second century under the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, as well as ancient inscriptions.
Vladkova expects that her team will find the remains of a cult building where the nymph worshippers stayed.
Nymph worshipping, according to the archaeologists, can be traced back to Ancient Greece, where the mythical female creatures were usually part of the retinue of a god, such as Zeus, Hera and Aphrodite.
Although, planned archaeological excavations are currently taking place at the nearby Nicopolis ad Istrum ancient site, as BalkanTravellers.com recently reported, the sancuary was discovered by chance. According to the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency, workers came upon the archaeological remains while installing a water pipe to the village of Resen, which called for the emergency excavations to begin.
Read more about Bulgaria on BalkanTravellers.com
Use BalkanTravellers.com's tips to organize your trip to Bulgaria
Epicure
Turkey
Izmir Gourmet: Food is in the Air
Food is literally everywhere in Izmir.
The first stop a traveller would usually make, is Passaport – the vivid promenade along the seaside, which has turned into a landmark with its black and white pavement.
Full Story
Curiosity Chest
Balkans
Stecci to be Nominated as Joint Cultural Heritage by 4 Balkan Countries
5 November 2009 | In a rare move of cooperation, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro recently agreed to nominate the medieval tombstones, known as stecci, scattered across the four countries as their shared cultural heritage to the UN World Heritage List. Full Story
Useful Reads
Montenegro
Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro (2007) | By Elizabeth Roberts
Although released just in 2007, Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro comes from a much older school of scholarship. With this much needed work, former diplomat Elizabeth Roberts has produced the newest and best introduction to the full history of a storied and sometimes inscrutable land the identity of which was formed equally by its forbidding mountains and balmy Adriatic coast- still the features most representative of Montenegro today and most enticing to its increasing number of foreign visitors.
Full Story
Music
Macedonia
Macedonia: Esma Redžepova's Passion for Humanity
"A Gypsy from the city of Skopje", as she calls herself, Esma Redžepova has more than 40 years of singing and humanitarian efforts under her belt. Full Story
-
Photogalleries
-
A Perfect Shot
Koprivshtitsa Fair, Bulgara. Photographs by Neva Micheva
In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
RED&WHITE SOFIA. On the 1st of March Bulgarians say goodbye to the winter. They buy each other red&white threads to carry around until they see a stork and spring can begin. Photography by Lode Desmet
BULGARIA D'OR: The Bulgarian countryside, patinated with the noble golden dust of the autumn. Photographs by Lode Desmet
360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
The exhibition Photographs of a Trip Through Bulgaria by Hungarian photographer András Balla can be seen in Sofia's Hungarian Cultural Institute, at Aksakov 16 Street, until August 22
Instant Spring in Sofia | Photographs by Lode Desmet
Off-the-season Beauty of Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast | Photographs by Adelina Iliev
Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs
