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<< Text Pages >> Staro Zhelezare - Stone Circle in Bulgaria

Submitted by Runemage on Sunday, 20 January 2019  Page Views: 1028

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Staro Zhelezare Alternative Name: Cholakova Mound
Country: Bulgaria
NOTE: This site is 9.011 km away from the location you searched for.

Type: Stone Circle
Nearest Town: Staro Zhelezare
Latitude: 42.436861N  Longitude: 24.658444E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Stone Circle in Bulgaria

Several sources for this stone circle are available online. They all seem to agree that it was originally buried under a mound known as Cholakova Mound and was excavated in 2001 by archaeologist Georgi Kitov.

It's important to note that for the following transcribed extracts, Cromlech (from Welsh) is a term describing prehistoric and ancient megalithic structures. In English, it usually stands for dolmens, prehistoric single-chamber stone tombs. However, in some other European languages, including Bulgarian, French, Spanish, or Italian, cromlech stands for prehistoric megalithic structures known more commonly in English as stone circles.

From the Archaeology in Bulgaria site click here for more information: "The Ancient Thracian Cromlech (Stone Circle) in the town of Staro Zhelezare – also known in the media as “the Bulgarian Stonehenge" – is a an Ancient Thracian megalithic observatory located 12 km away from the southern Bulgarian town of Hisarya, and 10 km southeast of the Thracian cult temple at Starosel. The Ancient Thracian cromlech in the town of Staro Zhelezare consists of 24 erect megalithic slabs (of which 2 are missing) of various sizes arranged in a proper circle. They are believed to have been used by the Odrysians (Odrysae), the most powerful Thracian tribe which created the Odrysian Kingdom. The stone circle was covered buried under a man-made mound known today as Cholakova Mogila by the Thracians after they stopped using it. The mound itself is 45 meters in diameter, and the stone circle measures 6 meters in diameter."

"The Staro Zhelezare Cromlech (Stone Circle) was discovered in 2001 by late Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov. Fragments of ceramic vessels found after digging up the mound above the cromlech were dated to the beginning of the 5th century BC, while the cromlech (stone circle) itself is dated to the 6th century BC. It is the only cromlech (stone circle) of its kind found in the northern part of today’s historical and geographic region of Thrace (Trakiya) known as Upper Thrace. Similar stone circles have been found in the very south of Bulgaria – in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains and in the Strandzha Mountain. Archaeological and astronomical research indicates that the cromlech (stone circle) near Staro Zhelezare was used by the Ancient Thracians as an astronomical observatory to measure the year cycle, equinoxes, and solstices which played an essential role in the rituals and economics in the Thracian calendar. The different phases of the Sun God were followed by the Thracian priests while the regular Thracians provided sacrifice gifts."

The same website has a page to raise funds for Bulgaria's Stonehenge and has details of the condition of the site as of 2016, several photographs of interest, especially one showing the size of the mound and the small area of the mound that has been excavated to expose the stone circle.

Google translated extract from this site which has several photographs :- click here to view.
The cromleh in the village of Staro Jelezare is made up of 24 stone stairs [possibly poor translation, likely means standing stones] with a height of 0.5 to 2 m and has a diameter of 6.5-7 m. There is no alternation between high and low menhirs, and in this sense it reminds the typical cromlechs in Western Europe. The menhir-blocks are of a rather cruel and perishable rock. On the northern semicircle they are higher than in the southern semicircle. It is questionable in its correctness to remove the soil inside the circle to the bottom, to the very foundation, so today's menhirs are practically not stuck in the ground and can not stand upright on their own. The support gives them only the outer ring of the original mound that has survived at least for now. But it's not known until when.

Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/CholakovaMound
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Nearby Images from Flickr
IMG_20180623_142713
IMG_20180623_142739
IMG_20180623_142824
IMG_20180623_142731
IMG_20180623_142832

The above images may not be of the site on this page, but were taken nearby. They are loaded from Flickr so please click on them for image credits.


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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 12.4km NW 313° Starosel Tomb* Ancient Temple
 32.5km SSE 167° Plovdiv Archaelogical Museum Museum
 33.1km SSE 167° Eumolpias Ancient Village or Settlement
 37.0km E 98° The Brothers Megalith* Standing Stones
 39.7km SW 235° Yunatsite* Ancient Village or Settlement
 60.7km ENE 76° Buzovgrad Megalith* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
 60.8km ENE 61° Golyama Arsenalka mound Chambered Tomb
 62.6km ENE 62° Goliama Kosmatka mound* Ancient Temple
 63.3km ENE 63° Ostrusha mound* Chambered Tomb
 63.6km ENE 62° Griffins mound Chambered Tomb
 63.7km ENE 71° Kazanlak Museum of History Museum
 63.8km ENE 62° Helvetia mound Chambered Tomb
 64.0km ENE 62° Shushmanets mound Chambered Tomb
 64.2km ENE 66° Kran Bronze Age sanctuary Ancient Village or Settlement
 64.2km ENE 71° Kazanlak Tholos Chambered Cairn
 64.9km ENE 66° Sarafova mound Chambered Tomb
 70.2km SSE 159° Belintash Ancient Temple
 78.4km E 91° Stara Zagora Neolithic dwellings* Ancient Village or Settlement
 88.8km SSE 152° Nenkovo Rock Womb* Cave or Rock Shelter
 93.1km SW 224° Pobit Kamak* Standing Stone (Menhir)
 104.3km SE 140° Perperikon* Ancient Temple
 105.3km NNW 343° Telish-Lîga Ancient Village or Settlement
 106.2km SW 234° Megalith near Eleshnitza, Razlog region* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
 107.0km SE 141° Perperikon Tombs Rock Cut Tomb
 113.0km WNW 285° National Archaeological Museum of Bulgaria* Museum
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