A Sanctuary of a Persian God Was Opened for Visitors in the Rhodope Mountain

Kamelia Кrumova, information by dir.bg

The only sanctuary of a Persian god Mithra in the Rhodope mountain was shown to the attention to the medias”.

The sanctuary is situated in close vicinity to the Greek village Thermes, just 6 km from the Bulgarian border. It was discovered in 1915 by the archaeologists Mr. Bogdan Filov.

Archeology researches were not made in the region. After the opening of the new customs near Zlatograd, the rock sanctuary is now available for visits.

The sanctuary of Mithra God is situated in the forest nearby the Thermes village. Just a month ago it was covered with threes and shrubs. The barelef of Mithra and the sacred spring can be seen there.

In III-IV century Mithra was the most popular god in the Roman empire, later it was substituted with the Christianity, announced prof. Nikolai Ovcharov. According to him the cult to Mithra is connected with earlier cults in the Rhodope mountain – those of the Thracians.

The border zone to the south of Zlatograd is famous with its archeology resources. Thus Bulgarian and Greek scientists start mutual researches of the terrain. The sanctuary of Mithra God will b included in a joint tourism route.