site.btaIslands.com Compares Bulgaria's Perperikon to Peru's Machu Picchu

The sacred rock city of Perperikon, located in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains, received international recognition again earlier this month, after Islands.com compared it to Peru's Machu Picchu in an article published on December 20. The head of excavations at Perperikon, Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov, told BTA that earlier in 2024, readers of the British daily The Guardian included Perperikon in their top 10 list of favourite ancient sites in Europe.

The Islands.com article entitled The 'Machu Picchu Of Europe' Is A Striking Ancient Site More Affordable To Visit Than South America's points out that at the time when Machu Picchu was built some 550 years ago, Perperikon was already going through its downfall. It laid to ruin in the Bulgarian mountains, ending a 6,000 year stretch of inhabitation in the 14th century.

Ovcharov quoted a part of the text, which states that archaeologists believe Perperikon to be the site of the Temple of Dionysius, where Herodotus recorded the travels of pilgrims meeting the oracle of the god of wine.

The head of excavations concluded that Bulgaria's Ministry of Tourism should be aware of such free advertising that could benefit the country.