The first European processed gold was found near Provadia It is over 6000 years old – a gold pendant It was discovered during excavations of a pre-historic salt-extracting center in the town head of the site and chair of the Scientific Council of the National Archaeological Institute with A Museum – BAS A center for the extraction of gold and copper existed near the Varna Lake It has been recognized as the oldest processed gold worldwide – dated to 4,300 BC are necessary for the excavation of the rest of the pre-historic settlement Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev has left for Washington where he will participate in the Munich Leaders Meeting (May 5-7 The forum is organised by the Munich Security Conference The foundation Unity- Kočani has sent an open letter to key Bulgarian institutions expressing gratitude for the support and humanitarian assistance provided by Bulgaria after the tragedy of the fire at a nightclub in Kočani The foreign ministers of Bulgaria and Greece Georg Georgiev and Giorgos Gerapetritis signed a joint declaration on the use of the waters of the river Arda on 2 May the BNR reports citing an announcement published by the Greek Foreign Ministry.. people will be able to withdraw money  from ATMs only in the new currency according to the website of the Bulgarian. helicopters of the Bulgarian Air Force will fly at low altitude over Sofia in preparation for a military parade marking the Day. The Bulgarian student teams that participated in the European Olympiad of Experimental Sciences EOES 2025 in Zagreb have returned with. english@bnr.bg HOT: » What kind of news would you like to see more of? A ceramic zoomorphic vessel dated to the Middle Chalcolithic is the July exhibit of the month of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NAIM-BAS) The artefact was discovered during archaeological excavations at Provadia-Solnitsata the find has four animal-like legs leading up to a rounded hemispherical body with a short cylindrical neck The vessel has a polished surface painted in brown ochre Part of the Provadia History Museum’s collection the artefact is now on display at the Temporary Exhibition Hall of NAIM-BAS as part of a temporary exhibition titled "The Lords of the Salt": Provadia-Solnitsata 5600 - 4350 BC" is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of archaeological excavations at the earliest prehistoric salt-production and urban centre in Europe the exhibition is a product of the joint efforts of NAIM-BAS and the Provadia History Museum./BTA We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria The Bulgarian government has allocated 2.2 million leva for archaeological research and conservation of historical sites as part of the state budget implementation for 2025 A study published in volume 15 of the journal Antiquities (Антикот) has uncovered dozens of Bulgarian inscriptions found in Greek Orthodox monasteries in Jerusalem’s Old City Archaeological excavations in the Kaleto district of the Bulgarian town of Lom uncovered significant Roman military remains dating back to the 1st century AD A remarkable discovery has emerged in Varna where construction work uncovered a well-preserved ancient statue Archaeologists excavating the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica announced the discovery of a head believed to belong to a recently unearthed headless male statue Google Street View Cars Return to Bulgaria for Major Mapping Update Housing Prices Soar in Bulgaria’s Major Cities as Demand and Supply Strain Increase You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed archaeologists have found perhaps Europe's earliest massive fortifications "Unusual" defenses underscore how rich site was Researchers announced last week they'd discovered 10-foot-tall (3-meter-tall) 6-foot-thick (1.8-meter-thick) stone walls around the settlement The find is among the evidence for Solnitsata's oldest-town status—and further proof of an advanced Copper Age Balkan trade network boiling off the salt and baking it into ready-to-trade blocks to supply its region with the essential mineral Salt wealth might explain those heavy-duty walls, which archaeologist David Anthony called "quite unusual." "You can find evidence of fortification at many sites of this period and unburnable stone wall," said Anthony Trees would have been plentiful in the region at the time so the decision by Solnitsata's inhabitants to build a wall using stone is revealing "It tells you something about the level of hostilities of communities at the time," he said—and about Solnitsata's wealth (See National Geographic magazine pictures: "Bulgaria's Gold Rush.") But archaeologist John Chapman thinks Solnitsata housed only about 150 people. The idea that it was a town—let alone Europe's oldest town—is, in Chapman's words, "hyperbole." Solnitsata "isn't really that different from hundreds of other Bulgarian tells [archaeological mounds created by building new structures atop older ones] that I know quite well," said Chapman, of Durham University in the U.K. "These are not town-sized using any sort of objective criteria at all," added Chapman, who was not involved in Nikolov's study. also thinks the oldest-town claim is an exaggeration site in what is now Serbia that covered a larger area" and was dated to an earlier time For his part, dig leader Nikolov—who could not be reached for comment—seemed to downplay his own claim last week, telling the AFP news service "We are not talking about a town like the Greek city-states or medieval settlements but about what archaeologists agree constituted a town in the fifth millennium B.C." (Also see "Mystery of Lost Roman City Solved: Ancients Greened the Desert?") Solnitsata and its newfound fortifications are evidence that the salt trade helped make southern Europe enormously wealthy during the Copper Age It's an idea borne out by other recent excavations in southern Europe which suggest the region was a kind of technological and social proving ground at the time The area saw not only the independent invention of copper metallurgy but the world's first social hierarchies and the division of people into rich and poor Evidence for that can be seen about 22 miles (35 kilometers) from Solnitsata at 300 graves uncovered 40 years ago near the site called Varna Dating to roughly the same time period as Solnitsata Varna's cemetery harbors the world's earliest known major gold hoard but its uneven distribution divides haves from have-nots (Related pictures: "'Emergency' Gold Treasures Found in Holy Land.") Those two great signifiers of Copper Age Balkan wealth—Solnitsata's walls and Varna's gold—might be connected that wealthy individuals from Solnitsata were buried at Varna But to establish that link would require more tests of pottery found at both sites "This [style of] pottery was in use for a thousand years," Chapman said "So just because the pots look the same doesn't mean they're from the same time period." Anthony said: "By the time you get to this era multilayered circulation of long distance trade goods "If you look around at the rest of the world it's hard to identify any place in the world at that early an age that was engaged in such a complex set of trade and interaction." More: "Bronze Age Factory Discovered in Jordan" >> But was it Europe's first town?","enableAds":true,"endbug":true,"isMetered":false,"isUserAuthed":false,"isTruncated":false,"isEntitled":false,"freemiumContentGatingEnabled":true,"premiumContentGatingEnabled":false,"ldMda":{"cmsType":"image","hasCopyright":true,"id":"1cb183d8-a238-432a-b458-ca3340c88251","lines":3,"positionMetaBottom":true,"showMore":true,"caption":"In a Bulgarian mound The oldest salt production and urban centre in Europe is open for visitors until the end of September The tour starts every round hour at at 9:00 am A photo exhibition features the latest discoveries in the prehistoric complex It highlights the achievements of military theory and the art of construction typical of the prehistoric settlement The extraction of the strategic raw material turned Provadia-Solnitsata into Europe's first "mint" and most ancient urban centre which impressed with its trade ties and social hierarchy from 5,600 BC to 4,350 BC "The people who inhabited the lands near present-day Provadia held the salt monopoly over a vast region - from the Carpathian Mountains to the Aegean Sea and from the Black Sea to the Central Balkans," said Academician Vassil Nikolov head of the archaeological team in Provadia Bulgaria is among the three European countries with the greatest number and variety of archaeological monuments Few countries in the world have such a rich history, Provadia-Solnitsata is a site that generates high scientific and public interest and deserves to be developed and recognized in Europe - said Academician Nikolov the exhibition will be presented at the European Parliament in Brussels Only on the Day of Bravery and Holiday of the Bulgarian Army (May 6) we will provide our visitors with the opportunity to enter three of perhaps the most interesting machines from our outdoor exhibition Dozens of enthusiasts and nature lovers will kick off the 44th edition of the Move and Win campaign with a spring hike to Bozhur Hut The meeting point will be the Vladishki Bridge in Veliko Tarnovo The third edition of the Samardala Festival will be held on 3 May in the central square of Nova Zagora is used as a spice and is harvested at the peak of its flowering in May we will provide our visitors with the opportunity to enter three. After 5 months of active archaeological work the researchers part of Professor Vassil Nikolov's team are already convinced that they have found the remains of not only the first salt-extraction center in Europe but also the first prehistoric town center from which today's civilization originates The prehistoric archaeological complex Provadia-Solnitsa is located near the modern Bulgarian town of Provadia Its remains date back to 5500 to 4250 BC Archaeologists have found a salt-producing center with a sanctuary and a settlement of around 4700 BC An unexplored ceramic manufacturing center is also thought to exist The emergence and development of the complex are directly linked to the large and only one rock salt deposit in the Eastern Balkans Scientists say the settlement and the salt mine near Provadia are among the most significant prehistoric sites in Southeastern Europe archaeologists unearthed tons of ceramic pots in which water from the local salty springs was boiled and salt extracted the location of the center for this large-scale production of ceramic vessels remains a mystery scientists say pottery wheels were not used back then however the remains of vessels with a diameter and height of about 70 cm were unearthed "This speaks of a multifaceted production within the town complex and gives us reason to believe that we have discovered the place where the first specialized production occurred within an agricultural and livestock economy in the fifth millennium BC" Prof "The salt center near Provadia is the oldest one in Europe It existed and functioned until about 4250 BC This is a time when Bulgarian lands were the center of European civilization One of the reasons for this is the salt springs turned into a salt-producing center in Provadia many people may not understand the importance of salt and some even think it is harmful the life of humans and animals is not possible In the middle of the 6th millennium BC the population in Europe rose and the problem exacerbated A group of people from today's southern Bulgaria crossed Stara Planina and settled around the salt springs near Provadia There are no other rock salt deposits on a vast territory - from the Carpathians to the Aegean Sea.” "People settled near the springs specifically to produce salt In the beginning they boiled brine from the salt springs This technology is the first of its kind in Europe The settlers used pottery that they placed in kilns We have unearthed such a facility built in 5500 BC One such kiln gave no more than 25 kg of dry salt per charge they invented a new method of extraction and brought production to the salty springs These were underground oval facilities similar to narrow corridors There were suspended ceramic vessels there filled with salty water Constant fire was kept burning under them they could produce about 200 kg of salt with one filling of the pots The technology was continuously perfected until they started producing solid salt bars These salt bars represent the first money exchanged for goods and services in Europe We can be sure that the salt center in today's Provadia was also the first mint facility in Europe." the wealth of enterprising inhabitants in prehistoric times did not go unnoticed Their settlement became subject to a number of enemy attacks which led to the construction of a massive stone wall which makes Provadia the place where construction of protective fortifications started "The first stone fortification was built here somewhere around 4700 BC It is a stone wall with a width of about 1.20 m but two consecutive earthquakes destroyed it It was an extremely massive 6-m wide wall The amazing thing is that it was built on principles of construction used much later This leads us to the conclusion that the basic principles of fortress construction were also born here The height of the wall was about 5 - 6 meters which meant that people had wealth to defend They also did not have trouble paying for the construction About 500 people were living in the village and they had two-storey houses They dealt only with the hard work of salt extraction and trading but had the means to hire builders from elsewhere." "You must have strong faith and pray - then the saint will help you and carry your prayer to God," says Father Georgi Markov of the Church of St Athanasius the Great in Gorni Lozen near Sofia He adds that he has often witnessed the miracles of St. marks 1160 years since the baptism of our Bulgarian people into the Orthodox faith and 1170 years since the creation of the Bulgarian alphabet and Slavic literature the Varna and Veliki Preslav Bishopric Metropolis. Bulgaria celebrates 149 years since the April Uprising – an event that led to the liberation of Bulgaria after almost five centuries of Ottoman rule we must not forget that every participant in the April. The village of Komarevo is located in the northeastern part of the country just 10 kilometers to the south of the town of Provadia Komarevo actually has a history going back centuries lives opposite the village hall where the mayor’s office is “The young people left and went to live in the town people have no means of livelihood so they are leaving All of the young people that were here – they all left There is a chitalishte (community culture club) and a pensioners’ club but nobody goes there anymore Because of the coronavirus people are afraid to go out they don’t even go and sit on the benches in the street to chat as they used to 1,500 Leva (750 euro) a year is what the village is allocated by Provadia municipality the equivalent of 750 euro is what Dimo Todorov can spend on the village for a year It doesn’t go a long way to clean and sweep the streets in the village centre Some may wonder what the village’s name has to do with mosquitos – in Bulgarian the word for mosquito is komar used to flood the entire valley because of its small angle of inclination Mayor Dimo Todorov has another version – according to the village’s written records from the time of Ottoman rule komarnik was the name given to a small shack for living The exact date when Komarevo was founded is not known though there is evidence that during the Ottoman invasion at the end of the 14th century it existed as a small village of 15-20 houses with century-old deciduous forests all around but it had to be torn down because its walls were crumbling “As there is no money now it is not plastered on the inside but there are icons from the old church and on feast days There is no money to do anything else,” Dimo Todorov says “The church bell is rung from the outside – people have put up a rope Opposite the village hall there is a memorial plaque with the names of 50 soldiers killed in the wars from 1912 to 1918 It was founded in 1923 and named after Paisius of Hilendar the man who laid the foundations of the Bulgarian National Revival when he wrote “Slav-Bulgarian History” At the chitalishte there is a grand hall that can accommodate 250 but that too has not been used for a long time The lobby has been turned into a museum of a kind displaying national costumes and various tools used in the past There are a lot of certificates from singing contests as well – the village is famous for its vocal ensembles which have taken part in many national festivals and competitions But all that is in the past when the village was full of life and the land was farmed A doctor comes to the village once or twice a week if you don’t have a neighbor to take you to the doctor you’re done for.There are 70 empty houses which are slowly falling apart the building of what was once the local school was bought by foreigners That is why there is nothing to keep young people in villages like Komarevo