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