Ancient City of Heraclea Sintica

In antiquity the Thracian tribe of the Sinti, or Sintians, inhabited the territory of present-day Petrich Municipality. As early as the fifth century BC, they lived south of the Maedi, extending northwest between the Maedi and Paeonians. Social and economic relations among the Sintians of the Struma valley appear to have been advanced, leading to the creation of urban settlements in their territory.
One such settlement stood in the Kozhuh locality within the territory of Rupite village. The walls of an ancient settlement spread across a terraced height above the Strumeshnitsa River. An ancient necropolis was also discovered, thought to indicate the city of Petra in the Maedica region mentioned by Livy. Later research, however, identified the settlement at Kozhuh with the Sintians' principal city, Heraclea Sintica.
In 346 BC Philip II conquered the Thracian lands between the Struma and Mesta, incorporating them into Macedonia for a prolonged period. After the Third Macedonian War in 167 BC, the Romans achieved their first major success in conquering the Hellenistic world. The Roman province of Macedonia was established. The material culture of Petrich Municipality therefore represents a valuable combination of Thracian, Macedonian, Roman, Greek and even Egyptian art.
Finds from the Kozhuh settlement indicate that Greek was the principal language, although some monuments, particularly official ones, were written in Latin. The population mainly comprised mixed Thracian-Greek families, although a Romanised element cannot be excluded. Numerous and varied funerary and votive tablets in the Middle Struma valley suggest the existence of densely populated settlements and fortresses during the Roman and Late Antique periods.