The Sun Gate, the Vertical Slabs, The Lilac Sanctuary, The Dragon's Egg are all names of Thracian megaliths scattered in Sarnena Sredna Gora Mountain. Some of these ancient structures have been explored and are now accessible thanks to trails with signposts laid by the municipality of Brezovo. But others are still hidden in the folds of the mountain, untouched by time, human curiosity and science. "The whole region is a new discovery for thracology.  Until 12 years ago, no one knew there were megaliths here," says Radnyu Shopov of the Tourist Information Centre in Brezovo.

The fact is that the Sarnena Sredna Gora (Sredna Gora Mountain is divided into three distinct geographic areas – Sarnena, Sashtinska and Ihtimanska from East to West) has been neglected by archaeology for a long time and quite undeservedly.All the more that the first archaeological site in Bulgaria is located in the area. At the end of the XIX century near the village of Rozovets, Thracian golden wreaths, a golden dynastic ring and a fine silver rhinestone with gold inlays resembling the one from the Panagyurishte treasure were discovered for the first time.

But the megaliths in Sarnena Sredna Gora gained popularity only recently, after the research work of local historians in collaboration with the tractologist prof. Valeria Fol brought to light astonishing finds. Their work reveals evidence of a highly developed civilization with knowledge and engineering skills that evoke admiration and... bewilderment.

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The most famous site in the area is the "Lilac Sanctuary" with the so-called sun stele - a two-meter stone slab carved thousands of years ago with mathematical precision in the shape of a flame pointing south. The stone contains mica and when the sun shines on it in midsummer, it glows in a special way, we learn from Radnyu Shopov. Nearby we come across the Thracian cult complex "The Dragon's Egg" with a giant stone egg set in a special chute carved into the rock:

"The egg had astral meaning for the ancient Thracians," Shopov says. There is an altar table and an altar stone 100 metres south of The Egg, where gifts to the gods were offered. The liquid offerings were poured into a narrow chute under the egg, and the rest were arranged on the ritual table."

Radnyu Shopov recalls how he accidentally discovered the so-called "Sun Gate" above the village of Rozovets. In the stone cluster there is a vertical slit formed by human hand. A huge block had been placed between its walls so as to form a passage or gateway to the afterlife. The Thracians also carved an image of the solar disk into the rock.

"In December 2018, I was walking with a friend and we came across the Sun Gate. It was overgrown with huge bushes, which we cleared and then the gate was revealed. When we walked through it, we saw the carved solar disk. We were speechless. The next year we took Professor Foll to the site and she said it was a unique structure. The Thracians believed that one could pass from this world to the next through a door that opened on a certain day of the year. This is how Orpheus passed from one world to the other and found Eurydice," Shopov said.

A giant cup was found in the forest near the village of Rozovets. They call it Kutela or "The Cup of the Gods". Next to it were the remains of another similar vessel. Supposedly, in the Middle Ages it was used as a baptismal chapel. However, there is a theory that it dates back to the time of the Thracians, who used it as a cult vessel. "And the most incredible hypothesis is that of a Russian scientist, according to whom a race of 3-4-meter giants existed on Earth before us, and they used this vessel, which does not belong to our civilization," Shopov said.

No one yet knows how many more of these mysterious stone structures, hidden for thousands of years in the forests of the Sarnena Sredna Gora, are waiting to be discovered to reveal at least a small part of the history of the ancient civilizations that inhabited Bulgarian lands.

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Check out the video with some of the most interesting ancient structures scattered among the hills of the Srednaya Srnenna Gora. (Use the Youtube setting for automatic translation.)

Photography - Veneta Nikolova