What do you know about Bulgaria? Yogurt? Cheap ski and beach resorts? These places are nice to visit, but what most people don’t know about Bulgaria is its rich history. The Balkans have seen many wars, many losses, many triumphs, treasures and cultures and what I am about to tell you now is the story of one of the oldest cities and the largest megalith on the Balkans – Perperikon. A city, which is said by archaeologists to be more than 9000 years old, built in the holy Rhodope mountains by the Thracians – a nation of spiritual people with rich culture. They were all gifted craftsmen, wine brewers and musicians, and skilled warriors as well. It is thought that the famous sanctuary and oracular shrine dedicated to Dionysus was situated there.
The legend of Dionysus
“Long ago, when the Gods still lived among people, Zeus fell in love with the beautiful Semella. The gift of their love becomes the little Dionysus. After the lightning god embroiders the child in his thigh, it is born beautiful and joyful among the other gods. Surrounded by dozens of satyrs with goat hooves and magnificent maenads, Dionysus roams the world and teaches people how to grow grape vines, making stunning, fragrant wine from it”.
Thus, celebrations occurred in his honour – orphic mysteries, who were made only by the devoted, which were only unmarried men. They were called the abitikos (not of life) for their life was not of ordinary men. The rites took place away from intruding eyes in deep mountain gorges and caves (such as one finds in the eastern Rhodope, the Strandzha and Sakar). The participants enacted a pantomime and a chorus sung the narrative. The high point in the ritual was the enactment of the death of the King Priest – an allusion to the archetypal myth in which the Titans dismember and devour the young god Dionysus – and the conception by the Mother Goddess. The former involved a blood sacrifice of a bull, horse or goat, or sometimes even a human; and the latter, indiscriminate mass copulation, which prompted the ancient Greek historian Herodotus to denounce the Thracians’ sexual wantonness. Much later, the Orphic rites transcended into the Roman bacchanalia marked by orgiastic revelry and drunkenness in honour of Bacchus.
Structure of Perperikon
Broadly speaking, Perperikon comprises four elements – the citadel, an acropolis at the top of the hill, a palace or temple immediately beneath the acropolis and facing southeast, and two outer cities – one on the northern and one on the southern slope of the hill. So far, no archaeological research has been done of the two outer cities but terrain observations indicate that they had streets and secular and religious buildings carved in the rock. A host of villages flocked at the foot of the hill and the fertile river valley was densely inhabited throughout the period of Roman rule. The hilltop was protected by the acropolis whose walls are 8 and a half feet thick. No bonding mixture was used for the walls; they were built of solid stone blocks, perfectly finished on each side, and layers of crushed rock separated the rows of blocks. All along its perimeter, the wall was built directly onto the rock surface of the hillside. The builders had to carve special beds in the rock to lay the foundation blocks. These have been wrongly described as steps, while they actually allow to trace the perimeter where sections of the wall are missing. Behind the walls, the acropolis was densely built up. The ground floors of the buildings were entirely carved in the rock. Even though a considerable part of the complex is still covered with earth, the 21st century visitor can walk down broad streets and step over doorsills carved in the rock, with holes for the doorposts preserved. As if not so long ago, Perperikon was still a vibrant community.
Carved in the rock in the eastern part of the acropolis is a large basilica-planned structure. Archaeological research suggests that it was a pagan temple transformed into a Christian church by the addition of an apse to house the altar. At the western end, two monumental stone portals preserve the holes for what must have been double doors. A portico leads from the basilica into the heart of the acropolis, its columns intact, still in place, thus completing the Classical makeup of the structure. Two gates of the acropolis have been unearthed so far. One leads into the citadel from the west and is guarded by a rectangular barbican; the other, opening onto the south, was discovered in 2002 and is particularly important because it leads to a grand palace (or temple).
The temple of Dionysus
For more than a century archaeologists have searched for the remains of the famous temple where Dionysus had an oracle. It is believed that the discovery will be as important as that of Troy and Mycenae. Very little is known about the temple today and the only thing which is know for sure is that it was in the Holy Rhodope mountains. The latest archaeological excavations at Perperikon revealed a site almost literally described by the ancient authors as the Temple of Dionysus in Mount Rhodope. A huge hall was carved into the rock and apparently left roofless, judging by the absence of holes for any roof beams in the surrounding rock walls. At the very centre of this open space, a magnificent round altar was sculpted from the rock, almost 6 ft in diameter and rising approximately 9 ft above the floor. The top of the alter revealed a multitude of oval cavities filled with fragments of late Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery. Northeast of the altar, an almost square platform must have served some ceremonial purpose. Fragments of smaller, clay alters were found at the foot of the central one. Perperikon and the rocks all around it are scarred by thousands of troughs, basins and spillways, which are difficult to study because most of them lie under centuries of earth. Excavations in 1983 unearthed a considerable portion of the northern slope but one can only imagine the sight that met the eye of the ancient beholder: the mammoth rock with thousands of alters cut in its side and the magnificent shrine perched on its top.
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus is the main source of information about the temple of Dionysus. In his famous History, Herodotus gives an account of the march of Xerxes’ immense army on Greece in 480 BC. As the huge invasion force was slowly making its way along the Aegean coast, many Thracian tribes sent envoys to pledge their allegiance to Xerxes. Only the Satrians, who inhabited the Rhodope, chose to ignore him. Herodotus never himself travelled across Thrace and the geographical references in his account are often vague. He placed the Temple of Dionysus on the ‘most lofty mountains’ held by the Satrians, which were ‘covered with forest of all kinds and with snow’. This led scholars to believe that the Temple was located in the high western part of the Rhodope range. Few had thought of the fact that only the highest ridge of the southern Rhodope can be seen from the Aegean coast. Beyond it, are the low, habitable middle and eastern ranges of the mountain which abound in archaeological remains from various ages. Among them, the holy city of Perperikon, the biggest megalith in Europe, is both a geographical and a historical landmark.
The Oracles
Herodotus found the Oracle of Dionysus in the land of the Satrians remarkable: “It is a prophetess who utters the oracles, as at Delphi.” Other sources provide evidence of at least two of those oracles which left a mark on world history. Undoubtedly, the most important record in this regard is Suetonius’ account of the visit paid by the first Roman Emperor’s father to the Temple of Dionysus in the Rhodope. The prophets sat in a roofless oval chamber and wine and fire were used to deliver the prophecy: the wine was spilt onto the altar and the height of its flame signified the prophetic answer and as the Roman historian tells us: “When Octavian, father of Augustus, at the head of his army, came upon the Holy Mount of Dionysus, he consulted the oracle about his son, and the prophets said to him that his son was to rule the world, for as the wine was spilt onto the altar, the smoke rose up above the top of the shrine and even unto heavens, as had happened when Alexander the Great himself had sacrificed upon that same altar.” Alexander was told that he was to conquer Asia, and the Romans, that they were to establish a world empire.
The legend of Orpheus
Orpheus, one of the best loved ancient heroes, was born in Thrace. The ancient Greeks believed that he was the son of the river god Oeagrus and Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry.
A magnificent poet and singer, Orpheus rivalled even the god of poetry and music Apollo. His heavenly voice cast a spell on everything, animate and inanimate, and having joined the Argonauts on their quest for the Golden Fleece, he helped them escape the Sirens by singing so sweetly that he drowned out their perilous song. He was often portrayed playing the lyre, which Apollo gave him, and his music enchanted the trees and rocks and tamed wild beasts, and even the rivers turned in their course to follow him.
Greek myth also tells us about Orpheus’ ill-fated marriage to the lovely wood nymph Eurydice. Soon after the wedding the bride was stung by a viper and died. Orpheus was determined to go to the underworld and try to bring her back. Hades, the ruler of the underworld, was so moved by his playing that he gave Eurydice back to Orpheus on the condition - not to look back until they reached the upper world. Orpheus could not control his eagerness, however, and as he gained the light of day he looked back a moment too soon, and Eurydice vanished. In his despair Orpheus forsook female company and was killed by a fierce band of Thracian women, maenads or bacchantes, during a bacchanalia, an orgiastic rite in honour of Bacchus (Dionysus). It is certain that Orpheus was of Thracian origin; ancient art invariably portrays him in the traditional Thracian costume. He must have played an important role in the Thracian religion, of which little is known today. It would seem that in Thracian lore Orpheus was a priest or magician wielding supernatural power. Scholars believe that a philosophical cult, Orphism, was drawn from his teaching and songs. It must have originated in Thrace at the beginning of 900 BC and later spread across ancient Greece and the Mediterranean. Among its followers were even some Roman emperors.
To see such a wonder of human creation on a craggy hilltop in the deepest recess of a wild mountain almost defies belief. If you happen to visit Bulgaria, take the time to visit.
