Archaeological Medieval Complex - Perperikon –
Тown of Kardzhali
The Sanctuary of Emperors
Archaeological complex of Perperikon
is situated in the eastern Rhodope mountain,
15 km northeast of the present day of Kardzhali.
It is called The Ancient Sacred Town and the European Machu Picchu.
The heart of the complex is the sanctuary of Dionysus -
god of wine and joy.
The legend compares it to the one of Apollo in Delphi
and mentions them as the two most important oracles in Antiquity.
Octavian, the father of the first Roman Emperor Augustus,
led his army along the Holy Mountain of Dionysus.
When he reached Perperikon, he decided to ask the Oracle
about the future of his son.
The priests poured wine on the altar, it bursted in flames,
and the smoke was raised high, up to the sky.
By will of faith, Alexander the Great
received the same omen on this same altar.
This way, according to the Roman historian Suetonius Tranquil,
crucial prophecies were made for mankind
in the Rhodope temple of Dionysus.
Alexander the Great found out that he would conquer Asia and the world,
and the Rome would become a global empire.
Nowadays Perperikon is an archaeological complex,
which attracts tourists from the whole world.
A rocky peak of about 400 meters altitude
is covered by a megalithic sanctuary, ancient monuments
and a medieval fortress.
This original ensemble
has not lost its mystic fascination.
The powerful fortified wall, the acropolis of huge stone blocks,
a palace cut into the rocks, the street system,
the residential buildings and the temples here
date back to the late stone age.
According to the data
of the latest archaeological researches
the earliest traces of life date back to the late stone age,
the end of the 6th - the beginning of the 5th millennium BC.
But there is even more.
This is the fifth immeasurable part of this unusual space –
the legends, which have no end.
They sometimes speak of the magnificent poet and singer, Orpheus,
about gold, silver and precious metals,
which the ancient mountain is exceptionally rich of,
about the parts of the Holy Cross, about secret towns and battles,
such as the legend about Troy, and another way for ephemeral spiritual conditions,
elusive for the human senses.
According to one of them, heroes who had fought in the Troy war,
had been buried in the area.
According to another one, if someone finds the grave of Orpheus, nested in these rocks,
his songs will sound again over the mountain.
Maybe one day this will happen, too.
Because the lands of Perperikon keeps secrets,
in which legends and reality intertwine,
that it is hard to separate one from the other.
And you don't need to. The mysteries of this place are waiting for their explorers.
