Archaeologists have uncovered a temple about 15 metres long, with three rooms and a marble relief of three nymphs and the mother goddess Cybele, at a site called Balak Dere near Ivaylovgrad. The dig confirmed the building itself. The idea that it was a nymphaeum, or one of the last Thracian temples in Western Thrace, is the archaeologists' own guess.
The National Historical Museum (NIM) finished its dig by the Arda river in October 2026. Ivaylo Kanev, the museum's chief curator, led the team. The money came from a Culture Ministry project, and Ivaylovgrad council helped. The find was announced on 19 October 2026.
The building is trapezoid-shaped and runs from southeast to northwest. Doorways link its three rooms. The largest holds the altar, the middle one the sacrificial table, and the third was where offerings were kept. The archaeologists say the fact that the three parts sit in one line gives the find great scientific value.
Until now, researchers thought the temple came into use in the 3rd century. The museum says the 2026 finds support earlier suggestions that all life at the site centred on the temple complex.
The marble relief shows three nymphs (female deities of water and nature) and Cybele, the mother goddess. The museum says this is the first time this combination appears in one scene.
A water channel runs around the building, and the Arda flows nearby. For that reason, the archaeologists think the site may have been a nymphaeum, a shrine to the nymphs where water was part of the cult. The museum calls this a working hypothesis.
In 392, Emperor Theodosius the Great made Christianity the only official religion of the empire. NIM says worship at Balak Dere went on, and the complex burned down completely in the middle of the 5th century. The museum reads the fire as a punishment and an attempt to wipe out the memory of the Thracian gods. The cause of the fire has not been proven.
The museum says this is the first time in archaeology that all the main parts of a pagan temple have been found together at one urban site dating to the 5th century or earlier. The claim comes from the archaeologists themselves, and the museum's material includes no comment from independent experts. The site is also described as a fortress, but the texts do not explain how that fits with an urban site.
The researchers say the temple may be one of the last pagan temples of the Thracians in Western Thrace. They base this on the architecture, the dating, the relief and the closeness to water. The museum's main text calls this a scientific assumption, but the caption under one photo reads "The last temple of the Thracian gods".
| Claim | Status according to the sources |
|---|---|
| Temple with three rooms, about 15 m long, with an altar, a sacrificial table and a place for offerings | Confirmed in the dig |
| Marble relief with three nymphs and Cybele | Found. The museum says the scene has no known parallel |
| Water channel around the building | Confirmed |
| Nymphaeum | Hypothesis |
| One of the last pagan temples in Western Thrace | Assumption |
| Fire in the mid-5th century because of religious change | The date comes from the soil layers, the cause is an interpretation |
Source: NIM statements and reports based on them
No more digs at Balak Dere have been announced. NIM says the finds give a basis for future study of temple architecture and beliefs in the region in Late Antiquity.