Mystery of Paleokastro Sanctuary of Topolovgrad
374Mysterious strange tubular meter-diameter tunnels in the monolith of petrified sedimentary layers, all this is allegedly called by the official science as Paleokastro Sanctuary of Topolovgrad. Dated older than the 10th century BC.
It is an interesting cult complex of the Thracian era on a regional and national scale. It is located on the Paleokastro peak from which there is good visibility in all directions and which has natural protection from the south with the steep slopes and cliffs up to 14 m high. The good strategic position was appreciated by the Thracians. Here they built a sanctuary, and later a fortress and a settlement. In the rocks of the two neighboring peaks and their bases they made more than 150 hollows, circles and convex shapes that resemble the sun disk. The stone sun sanctuary is thought to have existed from the 10th to the 5th century BC. The fort itself resembles in shape a spear with its point pointing towards the south-east. From the east, north and west the castle was protected by a high, durable wall, about 350 meters long. The rocks on the south side were also connected to the fort wall. The stone masonry is connected with mortar. On the northern wall of the fortress, which is more accessible for attack, two defensive towers were built. One was in the north-west corner of the fort, where the gate was, and the other was in the north-east. The inner part of the fort has dimensions: 200 m long and 20 to 60 m wide.
North of the castle, the remains of a large settlement were found - foundations of buildings, ceramic fragments, building materials, spear and arrow blades, accessories, armour, pottery and decorations, copper coins from Mesimbria, Alexander III of Macedonia and others. Roman coins of Septimius Severus, Julia Domnas, Caracalla, Philip the Arab, Gordianus III, Alexander Severus, Maximinus Dazas, Diocletian, Geta, Marcus Aurelius and others. Early Byzantine coins of Theodosius II, Anastasius I, Justinian I, Justinian I were also found, while the later ones are from the time of Manuel I Comnenus (1143-1180). The – the concave copper coins. From the finds of coins, the oldest of which date back to the 5th century BC, and the newest to the 13th century, it can be concluded that there was life in this place during 1600 years. Built by the Thracians, the castle was used by the Romans, Byzantines and Bulgarians. Perhaps it was conquered and destroyed in the 12th century by the Cumans and the Pechenegs during their invasions of the region.