Seuthopolis (
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
: Σευθόπολις) was an ancient
hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
-type city founded by the
Thracian
The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...
king
Seuthes III
Seuthes III ( grc, Σεύθης, Seuthēs) was a king of Odrysia, a part of Thrace, during the late 4th century BC (securely attested between 324 and 312 BC).
Historical background
Following the campaigns of Philip II in 347–342 BC a significa ...
between 325–315 BC and the capital of the
Odrysian kingdom
The Odrysian Kingdom (; Ancient Greek: ) was a state grouping many Thracian tribes united by the Odrysae, which arose in the early 5th century BC and existed at least until the late 1st century BC. It consisted mainly of present-day Bulgaria an ...
.
Its ruins are now located at the bottom of the
Koprinka Reservoir
Koprinka ( bg, Копринка) is a reservoir and dam in the Rose Valley, central Bulgaria.
Its construction began after 1944 and was finished in 1956. It was built on the Tundzha river at 7 km to the west of the city of Kazanlak near t ...
near
Kazanlak
Kazanlak ( bg, Казанлък , Thracian and Greek Σευθόπολις (''Seuthopolis''), tr, Kazanlık) is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountai ...
,
Stara Zagora Province, in central
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
.
Several kilometres north of the city is the
Valley of the Thracian Rulers
The Valley of the Thracian Rulers is a name which was made popular by the archaeologist Georgi Kitov and describes the extremely high concentration and variety of monuments of the Thracian culture in the Kazanlak Valley. It is believed that there ...
where many magnificent royal tombs are located.
Seuthopolis was not a true
polis
''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...
, but rather the seat of Seuthes and his court. His palace had a dual role, functioning also as a sanctuary of the
Cabeiri
In Greek mythology, the Cabeiri or Cabiri ( grc, Κάβειροι, ''Kábeiroi''), also transliterated Kabeiri or Kabiri, were a group of enigmatic chthonic deities. They were worshiped in a mystery cult closely associated with that of Hephae ...
, the gods of
Samothrace
Samothrace (also known as Samothraki, el, Σαμοθράκη, ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a municipality within the Evros regional unit of Thrace. The island is long and is in size and has a population of 2,859 (2011 ...
. Most of the space within the city was occupied not by homes but by official structures, the majority of the people living outside the city. It had Thracian and Greek populace. In 281 BC it was sacked by
Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
.
The dual role of Seuthes' palace (royal court and sanctuary) indicates that Seuthes was a priest–king: the high priest of the Cabeiri among the Odrysian Thracians. According to Seuthopolis’ sign, the sanctuary of
Dionysius/
Sabazios was situated on the square.
The cemetery of Seuthopolis included a number of brick
tholos tombs, some covered by
tumuli
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...
, in which the upper-class were interred, sometimes along with their horses. The less affluent were cremated, with modest grave goods laid alongside.
The ruins of the city were discovered and excavated in 1948 by Bulgarian archeologists during the construction of the
Georgi Dimitrov (later renamed Koprinka) Reservoir. However, it was decided to continue with the construction and flood the dam, leaving Seuthopolis at its bottom. Despite the importance of the discovery, the government gave the archaeologists 6 years to research and preserve as much of the city as they could.
[ Explore the Valley of Thracian Kings – Bulgaria's Thracian Heritage https://www.rosefestivalkazanlak.com/valley-thracian-kings-bulgarian-heritage/#seuthopolis]
One of the most important archaeological finds is the so-called "Great inscription" found in 1953 in the palace-citadel. It is written in Greek, which indicates that Thracians were already hellenised in the 3rd century BC.
In 2005, Bulgarian architect Zheko Tilev proposed a project to uncover, preserve and reconstruct the city of Seuthopolis (the best-preserved Thracian city in Bulgaria) by means of a dam wall surrounding the ruins in the middle of the dam, enabling the site's inscription as a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
and making it a tourist destination of world importance. Tourists would be transported to the site by boats. The round wall, 420 metres in
diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid fo ...
, would enable visitors to see the city from 20 metres above and would also feature "hanging gardens", glass lifts, a quay, restaurants, cafés, shops, ateliers, etc. It would be illuminated at night.
The project was donated by the architect to Kazanlak municipality and funds are being raised to begin construction. According to Tilev, it would cost minimum
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...
50 million.
/sup>
Sevtopolis Peak
Sevtopolis Peak ( bg, връх Севтополис, vrah Sevtopolis, ) is an ice-covered peak of elevation 300 m in Dryanovo Heights, Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Surmounting Teteven Glacier to the west, north a ...
on Greenwich Island
Greenwich Island (variant historical names ''Sartorius Island'', ''Berezina Island'') is an island long and from (average ) wide, lying between Robert Island and Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. Surface area . The name Greenwic ...
in the South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...
, Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...
is named for Seuthopolis.
See also
*List of ancient Thracian cities
This is a list of ancient cities, towns, villages, and fortresses in and around Thrace and Dacia. A number of these settlements were Dacians, Dacian and Thracian, but some were Celtic, Ancient Greece, Greek, Roman Empire, Roman, Paeonian, or Per ...
References
External links
Zheko Tilev's project to uncover Seuthopolis
Site about the international initiative of National Unity "Treasure the Bulgarian Heritage" about Zheko Tilev's project to uncover Seuthopolis
{{authority control
Thracian sites
Thracian towns
Archaeological sites in Bulgaria
History of Stara Zagora Province
Geography of Stara Zagora Province
Buildings and structures completed in the 4th century BC
Former populated places in Bulgaria
Buildings and structures in Stara Zagora Province
Submerged places
Populated places in ancient Thrace
Odrysian kingdom