Starosel

The Chetinyova mound at Starosel, opened in 2000, is the largest Thracian religious complex found so far: a burial mound about twenty metres high and ninety across, enclosed by a drum of dressed stone with a stepped facade and a monumental staircase, and inside it a corridor leading to a round chamber ringed by ten half-columns carved from the stone, with a stone bed and traces of colour. It is dated variously from the late fifth to the middle of the fourth century BC, often to the reign of the Odrysian king Amadocus II, and is associated with the rulers of the Odrysian kingdom. Several other mounds in the same area have been excavated. The building technique and the use of columns show clear Greek influence adapted to a Thracian form.

History

Finds here go back to the 5th-6th millennium BC, and by the 5th century BC Starosel was an important and wealthy Thracian town; its underground temple under the Chetinyova mound, the largest of its kind in the Balkans, and the royal residence on Kozi Gramadi likely date from the reign of Amadocus II, 359-351 BC. The palace at Kozi Gramadi, begun under King Cotys I, was stormed by Philip II of Macedon in 341 BC, and lead sling bullets stamped with the names of his generals Cleobulus and Anaxandros have been found inside; nearby, the Horizont mound holds the only known Thracian temple with a colonnade (Wikipedia, Starosel).

Highlights

• A stone drum around the mound - the dressed facade with its staircase.
• The round chamber with half-columns - ten carved columns inside the tomb.
• A stone bed and traces of colour - the surviving interior fittings.
• Other mounds nearby - the wider complex in the same valley.

When to go

April to October; winter opening is limited. Two hours. Access to the interior is controlled and groups are small, so there can be a wait at busy times.

Before you go

Interior access is limited and sometimes closed for conservation. The chamber is small and groups go in a few at a time. Interpretation is largely in Bulgarian. The village has few facilities. Photography inside may be restricted.

Nearby

Hisarya is east; Plovdiv lies south-east.