Heraclea Sintica
Encyclopedia
Heraclea Sintica was an ancient Greek
city in Thracian
Macedonia, to the south of the Struma River
, the site of which is marked by the village of Rupite
, Bulgaria
, and which was identified by the discovery of local coins.
It was recently accidentally discovered at the foot of an extinct volcano on the land of Rupite. Professor Lyudmil Vagalinski, of the National Institute with Museum of Archaeology
in Sofia
, noticed strange structures above it: tunnels and an arch. Later on, after geosonar examination by Russian specialists, a large studio for producing ceramic masks for an unknown and as yet undiscovered ancient theatre was discovered. Soon afterwards, the scientists came across the proof of their identification of the city: a Latin inscription, dated 308 AD, of an imperial appeal addressed to the local urban citizens of Heraclea Sintica. Thus ended the years-long argument between Greece
and Bulgaria
about where Heraclea Sintica actually was.
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
city in Thracian
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
Macedonia, to the south of the Struma River
Struma River
The Struma or Strymónas is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its ancient name was Strymōn . Its catchment area is 10,800 km²...
, the site of which is marked by the village of Rupite
Rupite
Rupite is a village which includes a small mountainous protected area in the southeastern part Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria, 10-12 kilometres northeast of Petrich, on the right bank of the Struma River. It is best known as the place where the Bulgarian medium Baba Vanga lived and was buried...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, and which was identified by the discovery of local coins.
It was recently accidentally discovered at the foot of an extinct volcano on the land of Rupite. Professor Lyudmil Vagalinski, of the National Institute with Museum of Archaeology
National Archaeological Museum (Bulgaria)
The National Archaeological Museum is an archaeological museum in the centre of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It occupies the building of the largest and oldest former Ottoman mosque in the city, Büyük camii , built from stone around 1474 under Mehmed II...
in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, noticed strange structures above it: tunnels and an arch. Later on, after geosonar examination by Russian specialists, a large studio for producing ceramic masks for an unknown and as yet undiscovered ancient theatre was discovered. Soon afterwards, the scientists came across the proof of their identification of the city: a Latin inscription, dated 308 AD, of an imperial appeal addressed to the local urban citizens of Heraclea Sintica. Thus ended the years-long argument between Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
about where Heraclea Sintica actually was.