Shushmanets

The Shushmanets mound contains a Thracian cult building in the Valley of the Thracian Rulers, near Shipka. This Thracian temple is considered a masterpiece of Thracian architecture.

The temple has an unusual design and execution. The burial chamber is a tholos with vertical walls and seven engaged Doric columns. Above them is an architrave, followed by an unusually designed dome. A pilaster is formed above each half-column, while the top of the dome structure incorporates 15 radial blocks resting on the Doric column in the centre of the chamber. The entrance to the chamber is decorated with an Ionic door frame crowned by a pediment with palmettes. The vestibule features a corbelled vault with a semicylindrical cross-section.

The vestibule façade was crowned by a pediment supported by an Ionic column, but part of this feature has been destroyed. Walls of roughly dressed blocks were added on either side of the façade. The columns, walls and floors of the chamber and vestibule were covered with a thin layer of lime plaster, now poorly preserved.

As for the contents, there are reports of animals—four horses and two dogs—that were sacrificed and recorded on the vestibule floor. Unfortunately, details of other grave goods, including dating material, have not been published.