Two-Thousand-Year-Old Thracian Artifacts are the New Tourist Attraction in Razlog

A set of unique stone tablets and ornaments from the 2nd century BC, dated by the National Historical Museum, are currently the new tourist attraction in Razlog.

The municipality of Razlog recovered the stone tablets from an ancient Thracian sanctuary, located in Stolovatets near Razlog, as part of a project financed by the Razlog Local Action Group's Strategy for Local Development.

With realization of the project, archaeological finds and examples of the ancient Thracian culture are being popularized by creating and displaying copies of the stela from the Stolovatets region in the town proper.

In that region, located about 3 mi (5 km) west of Razlog, archaeologists have found ruins of stone walls of a Thracian sanctuary dating back to the end of the Bronze and beginning of the Iron Age. Large marble stela with relief carvings linked to a sanctuary dedicated to the sun were found.

Scientists have labeled the sanctuary as one of the few surviving examples of the oldest Thracian culture, in the form of a monumental object.

The cultural-historic set, an exact copy of the stela uncovered in the Stolovatets region, is being exhibited as a tourist and cultural attraction outside the cultural center in Razlog.

This gives the opportunity for locals and tourists to get familiar with the archaeological find that is unique to both Bulgaria and the world, as well as the opportunity for the priceless finds to be gathered and seen in one spot.

The creation of exact copies of the unique Razlog stela allows the originals to be safely preserved.

They contribute to Razlog municipality in solidifying its place as a preferred destination for traditional and alternative tourism, with accents on cultural-historic and educational tourism.