A hat-trick of victories have been won around the world this week in the global fight against the theft and sale of archaeological artefacts – a multi-million dollar international industry. The arrest of three men in Bulgaria in connection with their possession of a number of precious Roman coins and other items is particularly heartening, since it offers some sign that the tide might be turning in the struggle against a black-market industry that has been destroying the country’s rich ancient heritage.
Varna Archaeological Museum is one of Bulgaria's biggest museums, based in the popular Black Sea resort town of Varna. Founded in 1888 as part of the City Library, the vast museum features archaeological finds from the area's rich history, such as Thracian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Revival eras. Under the museum jurisdiction are also the city's Roman baths, and the medieval splendour of the Aladzha Monastery. Four other outlying sites will be added to the museum's roster soon, pending more archaeological work: a 4th-5th century basilica; basilica and monastery at Dzhanavara; the Theotokos Monastery; and the medieval fortified settlement of Krastritsi in the opulent grounds of Euxinograd. However the museum's most treasures possessions are the earliest recovered human gold items, called Varna Gold. Dating to around 4,600 - 4,200 BC, the multitude of items take up three exhibition halls at the museum, and attract thousands each year. There is also a library, a children's study museum, a shop and a cafeteria.
Seuthopolis is an ancient Thracian city, near to the Tomb of Kazanlak. It was constructed as a royal capital by the Thracian king Seuthes III in 323 BC and also served as a sanctuary to the Cabeiri, a cult associated with fire and metallurgy and connected with the smith-god Hephaestus. Seuthopolis was an important political, economic and cultural centre in Thrace and was fully excavated from 1948 revealing a fortified settlement with an impressive urbanised structure. Finds included thousands of coins, Greek ceramic vessels, jewels fragments of stone statues and amphoras. Buildings included the palace-temple complex, a temple to Dionysus and a temple to the great Thracian gods.
Seuthopolis is considered the greatest archaeological discovery in Bulgaria and Bulgarian, but unfortunately, soon after the excavation, the ancient city was flooded when a dam was built nearby. A project is now under way, instigated by architect Zheko Tilev in 2005, to make the site accessible to the public who will be transported across the reservoir by boat.
The tomb of Kazanlak was made a UNESCO world heritage site in 1979 and contains Bulgaria's best preserved artistic masterpieces from the Hellenistic period. Discovered in 1944, the tomb is the burial place of a Thracian king and is situated in a large necropolis nearby to the Thracian capital of Seutopolis. The tomb consists of a narrow ante-chamber and a large, round, vaulted-brick burial chamber in the form known as a "beehive" or tholos tomb.
The walls of the ante-chamber and burial chamber are decorated with splendid murals depicting. Scenes depicted include fighting, a meeting between armies of different tribes, and a chariot race. One mural is also revealing of Thracian elite practices and funerary ritual as it shows the final farewell between the gold-wreathed king and his grieving widow who, seated, grasp each other's wrists tenderly. Around them are relatives and servants approaching with fruit and funerary gifts. The tomb itself is not open to visitors but an exact copy has been made nearby for tourists to view instead.
