5 August 2010 | A team of archaeologists discovered what they believe is an ancient winery during their continued exploration of the Late Antiquity-Early Byzantine fortress on the Saint Atanas Cape on Bulgaria’s northern Black Sea coast.

The supposed winery, according to reports, consisted of two stone buildings connected through a wooden passage. One of them would be filled with grapes that were pressed with large rectangular stones.

Several structures thought to be ancient wineries have been found in Bulgaria so far, although their function isn’t known for sure, Professor Valeri Yotov, the head of the archaeological team from the Varna Archaeology Museum, explained. The tests on the new find, which are yet to come out, might make it the first properly uncovered ancient winery in the country, he said.

Similar wineries have been found by archaeologists in the Caucasus, the Crimean Peninsula, Serbia and Israel, which boasts what is believed to have been the largest wine-making structure in the Byzantine Empire.

The winery in the fortress on Saint Atanas Cape, near the town of Byala (in the photo above) was likely a part of a monastery, according to Yotov, whose team rediscovered the fortress last summer. In addition to it, they have also found an early Christian church and much of the fortress walls at the site.

The fortress, according to the archaeologists, dates from the Late Antiquity – Early Byzantine period (fifth to the sixth centuries) and was part of a large military defence system built under the Byzantine Emperors Anastasius I (491-518 AD), and Justinian I (527-565 AD).

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