Thracian domed tomb

Overview

Gagovo tomb is a Thracian mound in the Municipality of Opaka, Targovishte District. It is named after the nearest settlement - the village of Gagovo in the Municipality of Popovo.

The mound with the tomb is a cultural monument of national importance and is protected by the state.

The Thracian burial mound is located about 1200 m north-northeast of the village of Gagovo. Shortly before the construction of signs in the municipality of Opaka on the road Gagovo - Opaka (road 202) dirt road leading to the river Cherni Lom (northeast of the road) and the hills above it, after about 1 km leads to the mound. The mound itself until the end of 2008 is known for the only masonry, but also completely destroyed in the distant and recent past by treasure hunters masonry stone tomb located in it.

At a depth of about 4 m, measured from the highest part of the embankment, the workers came across well-preserved parts of a burial chamber with a diameter of about 3.70 m.

As a result of conducted quarterly rescue archeological excavations, the archeological context and character of the site, the plan and the architectural features of the facility, the period and its relative chronology are largely clarified.

According to the results of the initial research, the tomb is a monumental architectural complex consisting of two round domed burial chambers (with a diameter of 3.7 and 3.9 m), a common rectangular burial chamber, a dromos and an additional room. The two round chambers have a common connection, made through a common entrance, closed by a double stone door. Separately, each of the chambers has its own additional exit to the common attic. The pre-tomb room, which leads to the entrances of the burial chambers, was entered from the small "additional" room. Its entrance served as an entrance to the entire facility. These three components of the burial facility were built at the same time, realizing a single planning and architectural composition. Later, a dromos (corridor) made of unbaked adobe bricks was added to the tomb.

During its existence, the tomb has been smashed at least six times. All the above-mentioned stone structures have been severely damaged not only by the repeated robbery of the tomb, but also by the fact that in later times it was turned into a quarry for the extraction of finished processed stone. Most of them are preserved only in the foundations or slightly above them, but still give a sufficient idea of ​​the monumentality of the facility as a whole.

In the autumn of 2009, on the recommendation of the National Institute for Preservation of Immovable Cultural Heritage ​ and with funds from the Municipality of Popovo, a temporary protective canopy was built over the discovered ruins of the Thracian tomb

The Thracian mound near the village of Gagovo, Popovo municipality is a cultural monument of national importance. A tomb with such an architectural and planning solution from the time of the Thracians was not known until then from the territory of today's Bulgaria. Its presence should probably be connected with a local Goth Thracian ruler, whose no less representative residence was located in the immediate vicinity, and about which there is no information. Such a planned decision with 2 identical tomb chambers adjacent to each other suggests the burial of two noble Thracians, probably co-rulers.

The final studies aimed at the full disclosure of the architecture were completed at the end of June 2010. They last about a month and a half. The results are that a large courtyard surrounded by a stone wall was found around the two entrances to the tomb. The closed space in it is about 40 m2. In addition, the so-called dromos-brick tunnel connecting the two burial chambers with a length of five and a half meters is completely open. The unique passage, the work of the ancient Thracian masters is completely preserved.

The completely discovered tomb significantly enriches the data on the planning schemes, used construction materials and construction techniques, as well as the application of order decoration in the tomb architecture in Ancient Thrace. Particularly important are the data from the brickwork and the combination of two domed beehive chambers. The proposed chronology of the monument in the last quarter of the IV century BC. - the first quarter of the third century BC. cannot be refined on the basis of the new ceramic materials, but they also do not go beyond the aforementioned period.