Perperikon Gold Cultural Treasures
The cult of Dionysus was deeply rooted in Thracian culture in the Rhodope. Another tradition for which the mountain was famous in ancient times was the mining of gold, silver and precious stones. One of the largest mines in Antiquity was located near the present-day village of Stremtsi, about a mile and a half from Perperikon. What remains of it are about a dozen entrances and more than 500 metres of galleries. The entire hillside was cut through by a thick network of tunnels and caverns. During the Pleistocene, the site must have been the bed of a subterranean river carrying gold-rich alluvium. In subsequent geological periods, the upper layers of rock must have collapsed and, as the river bed dried up, the alluvial deposits became consolidated. The ancient gold-diggers crushed the rock into gravel and then washed away the lighter sands with water from the nearby river.
Perperikon
Perperikon is perched on a rocky peak at 1,400 ft above sea level guarded at its foot by the village of Gorna Krepost [high castle]. The gold-bearing river Perpereshka flows nearby forming a valley some 7 miles long and 2.5 miles wide.
This fertile sheltered place had attracted settlers in very ancient times, and today, dozens of sites clustered around the natural hub of Perperikon reveal layer upon layer of archaeological remains.
