site.btaTemple of Heracles in Ancient City of Heraclea Sintica to Be Explored Next in 2025

Exploration of the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica, located in Southwestern Bulgaria, will continue in 2025 with the Temple of Heracles and a statue of his at the eastern end of the forum, the eastern gate of the city and more ancient inscriptions, Prof. Lyudmil Vagalinski, who leads the project, told BTA.

Vagalinski described the past 2024 as very successful. He said that the historical information extracted from Heraclea Sintica enriches the knowledge of the past of Southeastern Europe, while the discoveries of 2024 highlight the ancient city as a tourist attraction.

The archaeologist praised his team for the work they have been doing in Heraclea Sintica and in Develtos in Southeastern Bulgaria. Their efforts led to the creation of the media platform Archaeologia Bulgarica in 2018. He added: "We strive to cover the achievements of Bulgarian archaeology quickly, following our motto 'See the discoveries as they happen!' We add English subtitles to our films, which attracts many foreigners from around the world to the site, including from faraway places such as the Falklands."

The head of the excavations pointed to two significant problems in recent years that hamper the progress of the project: late funding and private plots within the ancient city. "These problems put a strain on my team, which reduces the efficiency of our efforts in the field," he said.

Vagalinski's priorities for 2025 include studying the history of Heraclea between the 4th and 1st centuries BC. He said: "The city's acropolis, overhanging its central square, holds rare historical information. We only had a glimpse of it in 2021. The theatre of Heraclea continues to 'evade' us. We have more work to do on the periphery of the central square. It will be exciting to follow the sewers under the forum."