At the end of March 2013, I went to Bulgaria for 10 days to visit my brother Greg, his wife Emi, and Greggie, Joyce and Mina. After a night in Sofia, we went to Husarya, near Plovdiv, which used to be the ancient Roman town of Diocletianopolis from the 4th century AD. Its mineral hot springs have attracted visitors for many centuries. It was one of the few Roman towns build for tourism rather than military purposes. On the way back to Sofia, we stopped to visit Thracian sites near Starosel which were much older (5th-4th century BC). I always liked archaeology, and studied it at university, so the sites were of great interest. After another night in Sofia, we went to the village of Krupnik in the south near Blagoevgrad, where Emi's parents live and Greg has a house, to visit with family and friends.

Much of the old Roman wall around the center of Hisarya still exists, as shown on the map below. The area around the main springs is mostly park and archaeological sites. We visited the mineral hot springs and a local museum, and I took some time to walk all around the Roman wall.

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Map of the center of Hisarya showing the Roman wall and main gate at bottom center; the park between the mineral springs
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The Orthodox Church; our hotel across the street

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The minaret and its tiny mosque built in 1464

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The town amphitheatre; an old vacation center; abandoned homes (many families have emigrated, and heirs cannot decide on inherited properties)
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Rooftops in Hisarya; the Roman wall behind the houses; teenagers' response to a museum visit

The mineral springs
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Walking down through the park to the springs
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A Roman public building for a library and other activities near the baths

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The Roman baths

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Roman ruins and the modern springs where people line up to fill their water bottles

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Remains of the Roman Amphitheatre; the modern springs; Joyce, Greggie, Mina, Greg and Emi at the springs

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The story of the springs; springs and Roman ruins

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A late Roman building with peristyle; plaque in Bulgarian and French

Roman tomb
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A short walk outside the walled town led to a Roman tomb from the second half of the 4th century AD

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The plaque describing the tomb, and pictures of the exterior and interior

Roman walls of Hisarya (4th century AD)
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The "camel" gate, or main gate to the town, which had square towers on either side. The walls extend for 2,315 meters and form an irregular rectangle.

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Details of the main gate, with a staircase up to the tower

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The double wall on the North side, with projecting square towers

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New buildings beyond the walled town
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The walls and square towers now form a green belt around the town

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Tunnels through the walls led to square towers; carved stone lintels

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The southeast corner tower
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The southern wall

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The wall beyond the main gate, with barracks behind it for the military garrison
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Northern part of the eastern wall

There are many tumuli from Thracian times on the plains around Starosel, but the temple in the one we visited was only discovered in 2000. It dates from the 5th-4th century BC and is beautifully preserved, retaining even some of the original colouring on its carved decorations. The precision of the stonework is amazing.

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Map of the area around Starosel with many Thracian monuments; the tumulus (artificial hill) in which the cult center was found

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Emi and Greg, and the whole family on the path to the Thracian cult center; the view from the tumulus

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The entrance to the temple, showing the excellent stonework

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The outer and inner doors to the temple were of stone; the inner sanctuary was a perfect circle over 5 meters in diameter, with half-columns and painted decorations

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The stone doors had greased rollers in carved channels; stones were held together with iron bars set in lead

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The treasures found in the cult center are now in a museum

Grave of a Thracian ruler

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Near the temple was the grave of a Thracian ruler of the 5th-4th century BC

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There were beautiful views from the temple site