Tomb of Seuthes III
- Address: The tomb is located 1km. south of the Shipka town.
- Opening hours: every day from 9:00 to 17:00
- Entrance:
- Adults - 6.00 lv
- Students - 2.00 lv
- Children under 7 years of age: free
- Free admission: Every last Monday of the month.
- E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
- Phones: +359 431 99028
- Opportunity to purchase a commercial materials and souvenirs.
At the beginning of the III century BC in the central chamber a ritual burial of a Thracian aristocrat was performed, and in the first chamber - a horse sacrifice. So the building has changed its function, becoming a tomb.
The inventory is extremely valuable, depicting personal and burial gifts - a golden crown, a golden cup / kylikes /, a set of gold ornaments for horse trappings , arms – gold-plated iron sword with sheath, bronze greaves, spear gads, parts of a shield, vessels of bronze and alabaster. Particularly fascinating are the following three objects - a bronze helmet, a silver jug and a silver cup, where the name of ΣΕΥΘΟΥ / Seuthes / can be deciphered.
After the funeral ceremony, the entrances to the chambers were built in, and adjoined to the facade – a 13 - meter passage was constructed with stone walls and a wooden roof. In sealing off the installation, it was burned down and filled up with the sliding mound-bar. 7 m south of the entrance there is a head of a bronze statue – an exquisite masterpiece of the Hellenic sculpture.
Having found four bronze coins of Seuthes III in the beginning of the passage, the exclusive resemblance of the features of the bronze head to the coin images of this Thracian ruler, and the three inscribed funeral items bearing his name, has made the discoverer of the sepulchre Dr. G. Kitov assume that this is the tomb of the founder of the Thracian town of Seuthopolis and Odrysian ruler - Seuthes III.