Mound of the Griffins

The Mound of the Griffins is a Thracian funerary structure in the Valley of the Thracian Rulers, discovered in 1996 by a research team led by Associate Professor Georgi Kitov. It lies between Shipka and the village of Sheynovo.

The mound was built on the southern edge of an existing mound and includes a domed chamber, a rectangular antechamber with a pitched roof and a monumental façade. The entrance to the antechamber is sculpturally formed like an aedicule, with an Ionic door frame and a pediment with palmettes. The mound has a dromos, or long passage, and was intended for ritual ceremonies.

According to Georgi Kitov's investigations, the tomb saw at least two construction phases during its use. The ritual stone couch discovered in the central chamber was carefully executed and includes a front space closed by a vertical slab and a movable stone block with a moulded face. Archaeologists believe that the mound was used in the late 5th and early 4th centuries BC. Only two gold beads, gold flakes and small fragments of silver and bronze were found. These artefacts provide the basis for dating the structure.