An Archaeological Study Tour
Bulgaria
Ancient Peoples of the Danube Valley
September 21- October 6, 2010
Led by Dr. Mattanyah Zohar


Our tour will introduce the complicated history and cultures of the mosaic of peoples who have occupied the fertile plains bordering the Danube River. This adventure takes us from Neolithic tell sites occupied for millennia, Thracian painted tombs to the great monuments and cities built by the Romans. We will visit World Heritage monasteries and museum-like towns left by the waves of invading or migrating Goths, Huns, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars and Byzantines that swept across the territory. But our most amazing discoveries will be in the museums, where the archaeological evidence of an unparalleled artistic heritage is revealed: the oldest gold jewelry in the world at Varna, the famous Rogozen treasure, a hoard of more than 100 silver artifacts dated to between 500 and 350 BCE. This complex history will be ours to explore along with a variety of beautiful scenery, from the wooded Rila Mountains to the shores of the Black Sea, an astonishing wealth of ancient ruins, architecture and art, as well as a vibrant traditional culture and folklore preserved intact.


Tuesday, Wednesday, September 21 & 22: SOFIA: We depart New York on Lufthansa Airlines and arrive into Sofia Wednesday afternoon. We will transfer to the new Hotel Arena di Serdika. This evening we will meet with Dr. Zohar for our opening lecture and dinner.
Meals: Dinner

Thursday, September 23: SOFIA: Our touring begins at the small Archaeological Museum, housed in a 15th-century former mosque, and continues at the church of Sveta Sofia. After lunch, we will visit the Boyana Church, renowned for its 13th-century frescoes. The depiction of the Last Supper is particularly charming for the artist’s use of medieval Bulgarian dress and peasant foods on the table.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Friday, September 24: SOFIA: Our day begins with a walking tour, stopping at Banya Bashi Mosque and Turkish baths, and the Synagogue. Touring continues at the National History Museum, which houses one of Europe’s richest collections of ancient gold and other important archaeological materials, as well as medieval ecclesiastical art collected from rural Bulgaria. Our last stop of the day will be at the Aleksandar Nevski Cathedral. The remainder of the day will be at leisure to follow our own interests.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Saturday, September 25: PLOVDIV: Departing Sofia, we drive through the Rila Mountains to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, Rila Monastery. The fortress-like complex, established by the First Bulgarian Kingdom, was known as a center of learning and church power. We will visit the monastery and its museum and continue to Plovdiv, stopping to visit the Pazardjik Museum, known for its outstanding collection of prehistoric artifacts. We will spend three nights at the Princess Hotel. Dinner tonight will be in one of the timber-framed mansions in the restored old quarter.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Sunday, September 26: PLOVDIV: Our walking tour begins at the Forum of Philippopolis. We then continue into the historic National Revival quarter, where cobblestone streets lined with Bulgarian Renaissance houses and churches lead to ancient Roman ruins, a restored 14th-century mosque and an impressive Roman theater still in use for cultural events. Our touring will include many newly excavated areas of the city.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Monday, September 27: PLOVDIV: This morning we will drive into the countryside and spend the day visiting Perperikon, a Thracian rock-cut sanctuary. It is thought that the famous sanctuary and oracular shrine dedicated to Dionysus of the Bessi was situated there. Excavation has revealed evidence of a huge palace, temples and living quarters from the Roman era as well as a church pulpit that probably dates to the end of the 4th or early 5th centuries CE.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Tuesday, September 28: KAZANLAK: Today’s touring takes us to the newly discovered Starosel cult complex. This exciting day continues at Kazanak, where we will examine three of the 1,500 burial mounds in an area known as the Valley of the Thracian Kings. Most of these tombs are made of stone, one resembling a miniature Greek temple and painted with small scenes. The day ends at Hisar, a Roman spa town, where we will see the remains of the aqueducts, temples, baths and fortifications. We will spend the next two nights in the small town of Kazanlak at the simple Palace Hotel. This evening we will attend a special performance of a local choir before dinner.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Wednesday, September 29: KAZANLAK: We drive through the valley of the Sredna Gora to Stara Zagora to see a well-preserved group of Neolithic dwellings. The attached museum houses artifacts from the site, including a fifth-millennium child’s bracelet, one of the oldest pieces of gold jewelry ever found. We then continue to the Alexandrovo Tomb and Gluhite Kamani.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Thursday, Friday, September 30 & October 1: VARNA: We drive to Slivan, where we will stop to see the Thracian tombs, from which recent excavations have unearthed chariots. We continue into the mountains, stopping to visit the Preslav Museum, which exhibits First Kingdom period artifacts, and the Horseman of Madara, a huge bas-relief carved into a cliff. We then continue to the Black Sea coast, arriving into Varna in time for dinner. Friday morning we will visit Varna’s Archaeological Museum, which houses an extraordinary collection. We will move from galleries displaying 6,000-year-old gold ornaments to others displaying exquisitely executed 3rd-century BCE jewelry from Greek Odyssos and Roman funerary sculpture. We will also visit the excellent Ethnographical Museum, considered the best in Bulgaria. After lunch we will drive along the coast to visit the ongoing excavations at Provadia.Boutique Mussala Hotel.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch daily and 1 dinner

Saturday, October 2: ARBANASI: Driving north we stop at Sveshtari and several outstanding Thracian tombs. The most famous was built in the late 4th century BCE and is painted and lined with semi-columns of goddesses with upraised arms. Touring continues at the UNESCO World Heritage Churches of Ivanovo, a group of monolithic churches, chapels and monasteries hewn out of solid rock and noted for their beautiful and well-preserved medieval frescoes. Lastly, we stop at the Roman city of Nikjup (Nikopolis) and continue to Arbanasi for dinner at the lovely Arbanasi Palace Hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Sunday, October 3: BELOGRADCHIK: We depart for Pleven, where we will stop to visit its excellent Archaeological Museum. We then continue to the charming town of Belogradchik, translated literally as “small white town,” set amid Bulgaria’s most spectacular rock formations. The town’s main street, which ends at the citadel, is lined with turn-of-the- century houses with lovely cast-iron balconies. Hotel Skalite.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Monday, October 4: BELOGRADCHIK: This fascinating day begins at the Magura Caves, renowned for rock paintings executed in bat droppings and depicting hunting scenes and fertility rites. We will see some of the artifacts found in the caves in the small site museum and continue to an area of impressive limestone formations, known as the Belogradchishkite skali. These spectacular formations were used by the Romans and later the Bulgars as natural fortifications. We will then return to Belogradchik to explore the citadel and town.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Tuesday, October 5: SOFIA: Our last stop en route to Sofia is the Vratsa Museum, renowned for its outstanding collection of Thracian artifacts, including a delicate golden laurel wreath of 80 finely sculpted leaves and tiny berries and the famous Rogozen treasure, a hoard of more than 100 silver artifacts belonging to the elite members of the Triballi tribe between 500 and 350 BCE. We will reach Sofia in time to relax at our hotel before our farewell dinner. Hotel Arena di Serdika.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Wednesday, October 6: We will transfer to the airport for our flights home.
Meals: Breakfast