In the photo: Fresco in one of the cave churches in Ivanovo
Not far from the village of Ivanovo, whose cave churches are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, Bulgarian archaeologists have discovered a mysterious prehistoric city, which is estimated to be 8 thousand years old
Its heyday fell on the period from 5800s to 5500s BC. e. Incredible, but true: the wealthy settlement had a strict layout of streets and even two-story houses with oak floors. The city was surrounded by five-meter walls with a moat three meters deep. This, however, did not prevent some invaders from burning it seven times in three hundred years.
“The ceramics discovered here are of high quality and have no analogues if we talk about other settlements of that era,” says Svetlana Venelinova, an employee of the Shumen Regional Historical Museum. “The locals had good taste and, one might say, aristocratic style.”
According to her, the study of the not yet completely excavated city using electromagnetic waves showed that its layout resembles the later Greek settlements. Based on the quality of the ceramics and tools found, archaeologists make a preliminary conclusion that this was a large religious center. Further research is difficult due to lack of funding. Meanwhile, the discovery may become one of the largest in recent years.
It was made by accident - in 2008 during the construction of a river dam.
