Gluhite Kamani

Gluhite Kamani is one of the largest rock-cut religious complexes in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains. It is thought to have originated in the Early Iron Age but remained in use in antiquity and the Middle Ages. This sacred place served the ancient Thracian tribes inhabiting the region, although trapezoidal niches and zoomorphic and anthropomorphic rock profiles suggest that it was established as early as the Chalcolithic. Comprising more than 200 trapezoidal niches cut into a monolithic rock block, the complex also includes tombs, a staircase leading to a water cistern and a Thracian settlement that existed south of the rock. A fifth–sixth-century church and part of a monastic community were also built here. Although probably destroyed and plundered during the Third Crusade, the church demonstrates the site's veneration. Gluhite Kamani occupies four rock masses in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains and has been a designated natural landmark since late 1972. It lies high in the forest at elevations of 500–560 metres near Valche Pole in Lyubimets Municipality. Access follows a dirt track branching off at the pass on the road linking Malko Gradishte and Dabovets. Investigations began in the 1970s and gained considerable prominence after Aleksandar Fol's expedition in 1975. Further fieldwork in 2008 and 2015 included refining the archaeological picture using LiDAR surveys. The site has yielded intriguing finds, including tombs, a fifth–sixth-century church, monastic cells and artefacts such as vessels and coins.