The Bulgarian lands have rich and most diverse cultural
heritage. Inhabited since prehistoric times, they keep lasting
traces from different ages with rich traditions. Their location on
a crossroads explains the intertwining, mixing, the mutual
influences of the culture, mores, and religions of tribes and
peoples, having lived and crisscrossed the region. Getting in touch
with the thousands of cultural messages, bequeathed to us by those
living before us is very exciting indeed. Invaluable is the
cultural and historical heritage of ancient Thracians, Greeks,
Romans, of generations of Bulgarians leaving through their
achievements intriguing and useful information about their
lifestyle, traditions and their spiritual enlightenment.
One of the earliest traces from Antiquity were found in the
Bacho Kiro Cave close to the Dryanovo
Monastery. These are flint and bone implements of
labour and pottery from the middle and late Paleolithic Age. Of
value to science are the finds from the settlement mounds near the
village of Hotnitsa (Hotnitsa treasure)
and the village of Karanovo (Karanovo settlement
mound). The gold objects found in the
VarnaChalcolithic
necropolis have been described as the oldest
processed gold in the world. The most ancient copper mines
in Europe have been found in the vicinities of Stara Zagora. Copper
ore had been mined in their galleries as far back as at the end of
the 5th millennium B.C. and copper products
were made. Featuring among the preserved masterpieces of the late
prehistoric art in the Balkan Peninsula are the unique cave
drawings in the Magoura Cave
(northwest of Belogradchik).
Among the most precious relics unearthed in the Bulgarian lands
has been the cultural heritage of the Thracians, who had produced
incredible artistic and architectural masterpieces. The Thracian
art, passing through a long and complicated path of development
from the beginning of the late Bronze Age to the end of Antiquity
has left remarkable treasures, temples, sanctuaries and cities.
The magnificence of the Thracian treasures is stunning. Standing
out among them are the Panagyurishte gold treasure, the
Rogozen treasure, the Vulchitrun gold treasure, the Borovo silver
treasure, the Vratsa treasure, etc. Valuable
and beautiful with their exquisite decorations are also the
Kralevsko gold treasure, the Letnitsa treasure, the
Lukovit treasure.