Mezek Tomb

In the remote surroundings of Mezek, approximately thirteen kilometres southwest of Svilengrad, stands a Thracian domed tomb dating from the fourth–third century BC. This historic site lies in the Maltepe mound on the village's outskirts. In 1902, while working on the mound, a villager accidentally discovered a bronze sculpture of a boar weighing 177 kg. The find is displayed in the archaeological museum in Istanbul, since the area was still within Turkey at the time.
This was not the area's only chance archaeological discovery. In 1931 local residents found another tomb, which proved to be the largest and one of the most interesting Mycenaean-type domed tombs in Thrace. Entirely preserved in its original form, it was declared a cultural monument in 1968.
Built of dressed stone blocks joined with iron clamps, the tomb is covered by an imposing mound fourteen to fifteen metres high and ninety metres in diameter at its base. The structure includes a corridor more than twenty metres long, two antechambers and a circular burial chamber with a beehive dome.
Numerous artefacts of gold, bronze, iron, glass and pottery were found inside and are displayed in museums in Sofia and Haskovo. They include gold jewellery, a bronze candelabrum and silver and gold vessels. The tomb is thought also to have served as a temple dedicated to Heroon, where religious rites were conducted for the venerated divine deceased. Used several times, it probably served as a family tomb for Thracian aristocrats, with traces of four to six burials. This architectural creation combines magnificence and historical value.