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Late-antiquity tomb with murals is Sofia’s newest attraction

Friday, 31 August 2018

Interesting finds in St Nedelya Square tell us more about the history of Serdica as a city of wealthy people

At the very beginning of August (August 3, 2018), during repair works in Moskovska Street near St. Sophia Basilica, a late-antiquity tomb with murals dating from the end of the 4th to the beginning of the 5th century was unearthed. There is a huge necropolis with a diameter of about 1 km where there are around 1000 or even 1500 similar structures near the church after which the city is named. 56 of the tombs have already been exhibited at the archaeological level under St. Sophia Basilica. Curiously, the newly found tomb is extremely well-preserved - it has a brick dome and surprisingly it also has murals. It is extremely rare to find a tomb with murals from this period and this is the 3rd tomb near St Sophia Basilica with ones – the other two are the tomb from the 6th century with floral motifs and Honorius's tomb from the 5th century. The newly discovered tomb is a family one and was used for a long period of time. It will be explored and a special stairway entrance will be constructed so that the residents and guests of Sofia can see the murals. The official presentation of the tomb will most probably be in the summer of 2019.

Additionally, in St Nedelya square located in the heart of Sofia archaeologists have discovered silver coins and gold jewellery, a bronze workshop and clay bellows. Serdica was a lively place in 2nd – 3rd century. It traded with present-day North Africa (Libya) which is proved by a lamp bottom bearing the seal of the manufacturer as well as with Asia Minor and Egypt to which testify vessels with the characteristic barbotine decoration of the Roman Empire. Discovered glass marbles point to the affluence of the inhabitants. The wealth of the residents of Serdica is further proved by the fact that they used to order oysters from Aegean Sea which were delivered alive.

A competition will be held in September for the development of an architectural project that will exhibit these remains and integrate them into the construction of St Nedelya Square.

The Bulgarian capital continues to surprise its residents and guests with new facts about our ancestors - their lives, culture, knowledge, beliefs and skills. Because of this, present-day Sofia is like an open book about our wise ancestors containing eight thousand years of knowledge and cultural practices. Everyone can read it – just some and visit Sofia!