About to begin the long journey home.

From Plovdiv we made an excursion to Perperikon, a Thracian settlement discovered in 2000. It is still a working archeological site.

Hard at work at Perperikon.

Iron Age ceramic pots found at Perperikon.

Is this the world's smallest minaret? A lot of the villagers in this part of Bulgaria are largely Turkish and most have a simple mosque.

Still a few horses and carts on the road.

But the hay is bailed rather than stooked as in Romania.

Lots of wildflowers, although because of the heatwave we missed the rose harvest.

Rila monastery founded by St Ivan Rilsky in the 10thC it has been burnt to the ground twice and the existing buildings date from the 19thC. Once there were hundreds of monks but now there are only a few.

Heaven as depicted on the exterior wall of Rila Monastery.

And below heaven is Hell.

 

Thracian pots from before the time of the Potter's wheel.

Thracian gold from  the Panagyurishte treasure found in 1949 near Varna. It dates from about the 4thC B.C.

More Thracian gold. This horde had more than 6 kg of gold objects.

The cathedral of Alexander Nevski in Sofia. It was designed by a Russian architect and built in memory of the 200,000 Russian soldiers who died fighting for Bulgaria's independence in the Russo Turkish War of 1877 - 78.

Guards at the Presidential Palace in Sofia.

The rotunda of St George dates from the 4thC when Sofia was the Roman city of Serdica and the seat of the emperor Constantine. It claims to have a fragment of bone from St George.

Next to St George's church are yet more Roman ruins,

I hope you have found some things of interest in my blog. We certainly found the area fascinating and met some lovely people and enjoyed good food and wine..

The blog is once again going into hibernation.