Mezek Tomb

The Mezek Thracian tomb dates to the 4th century BC. It is a large, elongated tomb that includes a covered passage of 20.65 metres (67.7 ft), two rectangular antechambers of different size and a round burial chamber with a stone sarcophagus. The number of burials of noble Thracians in the tomb was no less than four. Gold, silver, bronze, iron and glass items and pottery discovered in the tomb are today displayed in the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia.

In 1908, in the mound a villager found a bronze sculpture of a wild boar in natural size, weighing 177 kg. Nowadays, the find is situated in the archaeological museum in Istanbul – Turkey, because in 1908 this region was still within the borders of Turkey. A plaster cast of the original is placed in the museum in Haskovo.

The tomb was found accidentally by local residents in 1931. It was the largest and one of the most interesting and impressive beehive tombs of Mycenaean type in Thrace. It is entirely preserved in its original appearance. It was researched by Prof. Bogdan Filov – a renowned Bulgarian archaeologist and politician, a prime minister of Bulgaria in two governments within the period 1940 – 1943. It was declared a monument of culture in Issue 67 of the State Gazette of 1968.

The tomb is covered by an impressive mound embankment with height of 14-15 meters and a diameter of 90 m on the basis. It was constructed by carved stone blocks connected by iron cramps in some places. One can enter the tomb by a corridor more than 20 meters long (dromos). Then two rectangular anterooms follow, and after them – a round funeral chamber with a beehive dome. The total length of the installation is about 31 meters.

A large number of articles made of gold, bronze, iron, glass and ceramics, which are exhibited in the museums in Sofia and Haskovo have been found in this tomb. Among them, there are golden jewels, earrings, a breastplate made of iron, silver, golden, bronze and clay vessels, a bronze candelabra (a large three-legged candlestick with lamps), 134 cm high, decorated with a large statuette of a dancing satyr.

It is thought that the tomb was used as a temple of a heroon – a place where the cult of the godly diseased person had been celebrated with specific religious rituals. It had been used multiple times and most probably it had served as a family tomb of a Thracian aristocrat. Traces of six funerals were found. A woman had been buried in the anteroom.