Perperikon: the Temple carved into the rock
In Bulgaria an incredible mountain carved by man has been used since Prehistory as a megalithic sanctuary: the signs of a common ancestral Balkan culture are emerging little by little from the remote past.
The Balkan region has recently emerged as one of the most archaeologically rich areas in Europe, revealing stunning megalithic finds from prehistory. This was already evident with the recent discovery of the vast pyramid complex at Visoko in Bosnia. However, for reasons we can only speculate about, these findings are often deliberately ignored by mainstream science, particularly in the West, and frequently met with fierce opposition from archaeologists. There is now no longer any doubt that the Visoko pyramids are colossal artificial structures, thanks to numerous artifacts that continue to be unearthed from the galleries beneath the monuments.
Another significant site in the Balkan region is Perperikon, also known as Hyperperakion, located east of the Rhodope Mountains, about 15 kilometers from the town of Kurdzhali, near the Perperishka River. This archaeological site, believed to be of Thracian origin, is one of the largest of its kind found in the Balkans, situated on a rocky hill at an altitude of 470 meters. The megalithic site of Perperikon is entirely carved out of the rock of the hill, featuring hundreds of cupules, basins, caves, carved seats in the walls, terraces, an impressive round altar nearly two meters in diameter, and even staircases.
The rocks are covered with paintings and graffiti depicting human figures and symbolic geometric shapes. It is likely a sacred place, an ancient megalithic sanctuary. Official archaeology dates the first human traces in this area to seven thousand years ago, during the prehistoric era, but the megaliths themselves date back to the Pleistocene epoch. Judging by the various objects, tools, and stonework found, it does not seem primitive at all, as we have often firmly asserted about such colossal works, but rather indicative of people with great intellectual abilities capable of carving a mountain!
Among archaeologists, there is debate about when the first traces of civilization on the hill date back to. Some suggest the Bronze Age, while others believe the structures are much more recent, from the Iron Age, as scholars argue that nothing advanced could have existed before 2000 BCE. It is certainly not possible to carve rock with bronze tools, as they would bend under the first blows of the chisel.
But even with iron, we wouldn't get very far when considering how enormous the excavated parts are and the cuts that sometimes run across the hill for tens of meters. If one is fortunate enough to visit the site, it becomes clear that some niches have sharp cuts, as if they were "sawed" with modern, powerful motor saws with diamond tips; the same applies to the perfectly smoothed walls, as if done by a current milling machine. However, the idea of advanced people in the past always provokes an angry reaction from academic archaeology. There is a stubborn belief that the world almost didn't exist before the Romans, and our ancestors who erected colossal stones are seen as brutish and unintelligent beings. Today, we know this is certainly not the case. So, it is usually concluded that such monuments are no older than two or three thousand years at most.
Even if they were less than a thousand years old, the megaliths and cupules around the world could not have been worked with simple hand tools. We think that ancient knowledge was likely passed down to successive peoples. We can believe that even in later eras, this knowledge continued until it was forgotten with the rise of patriarchal power, which led to an era of obscurantism. This knowledge reemerged, for example, in the construction of Gothic Cathedrals. These early humans also had a perfect understanding of astronomy and the mathematical laws governing the motion of planets and stars. Thanks to this knowledge, they could determine the best times for sowing or predict natural events because they were closely tied to the earth and thus connected to the ancient worship of the Mother Earth Goddess.
The archaeological evidence of such worship, in addition to rituals related to the earth, is once again symbolized by the trapezoid. What is most impressive about Perperikon, besides the megalithic sanctuary, are the countless niches, all of the same size and perfectly trapezoidal in shape, carved into the vertical walls of the mountain at a height of about 400 meters!
Certainly, when observing them, the first question that comes to mind is: how did the ancients manage to literally cut the rock on such a steep cliff? How did they climb up there, and more importantly, for what purpose? They are probably tombs, but it is strange that they are placed vertically and at such a height. Just like the sacred wells in Sardinia and the Sibyl's Cave in Cumae, fertility and purification rites were regularly performed there, transmitting to participants the energies linked to these geomagnetic sites, which were also connected to the "power" of the stars. In these sites, ancient peoples could perceive the Earth's magnetic currents and construct megaliths for healing purposes rather than committing sacrifices, as has always been foolishly claimed to smear a civilization that is perhaps too inconvenient for the most conservative academics.
Moreover, the trapezoid shape represented the female sexual anatomy from which life is born. When viewed from above, especially the geometry of the wells in Sardinia, the overall design reproduces the female reproductive organ in its entirety. Mother Earth was thus seen as our mother, the one who nourishes us and from whom we were born. Women were honored and respected in every sense, equal to a goddess, who often was the head of the family in a civilized society thousands of years ago.
From this, one can understand why these peoples and their cult were destroyed by warrior civilizations that promoted patriarchy, and why there is still persistent effort today to hide, slander, and suppress the true history. Certainly, this is not just our assertion or personal theory. Today, many serious and open-minded researchers, in light of new discoveries and studies, have reached the same conclusion. One of these researchers is Paul Gendrop, a professor of architectural research at the National University of Mexico City and a lecturer in art and archaeology at the University of Paris, as well as the author of several books on ancient Mesoamerican cultures. Professor Gendrop states that some authors also identify attributes of the Mother Goddess, the deity of the earth associated with the cult of caves, in Olmec culture and other ancient Mesoamerican populations. This cult, as we have seen, was practiced wherever there were caves carved with megaliths and sacred places that symbolize open mouths through which one accesses the underground world.
Regarding the construction capabilities of the ancients, he speaks of their "extraordinary feats, even capable of reshaping mountain peaks, creating gigantic artificial terraces, and erecting colossal stone buildings!" Perperikon is one such example, an extraordinary place in its size and beauty. However, we doubt that it is of Thracian origin, given that studies suggest the Thracian civilization dates back only to 500 BCE.
Of course, what we see are prehistoric constructions. Although the Thracians were also of Indo-European lineage like the people who preceded them at Perperikon, it is almost certain that those who erected the megalithic sanctuary were of Cro-Magnon lineage, probably related to the Liburnians who certainly populated Istria and Dalmatia.
It is believed that the oracle at the top of the sacred mountain was dedicated to the Thracian deity Zagrey, the equivalent of the Greek Dionysus and the Dacian Zalmoxis, a god of resurrection, death, and life, connected to the sky. However, the site was used as a sacred temple for millennia, well into the classical era.
At Perperikon, one can indeed see other constructions of significantly smaller and therefore more recent bricks above the cyclopean stones, just as at Machu Picchu in Peru, where the small stone huts built by the indigenous people are placed on top of the enormous stones erected by the culture that preceded them by millennia. The remarkable similarity in craftsmanship between these apparently different and distant cultures suggests unconventional works and characteristics belonging to known cultures. Later, many other peoples, including the Romans, invaded the area, building a fortress around the hill, within which temples and residential quarters were established.
At the foot of the rocky hill, there is the village of Gorna Krepost, which means "castle on top" in Bulgarian. The name of the place and its meaning are not coincidental. Usually, as has been verified in similar places, there is a high-medieval fortification at the summit of the hill or an adjacent one. The presence of such fortresses in similar places indicates that in the Middle Ages, "someone" was aware of or continued this ancient knowledge and built fortresses on these sites. This means that the area is certainly rich in telluric and magnetic energies, partly due to the presence of rocks rich in quartzite such as sandstone, like the sandstone mountain of Montserrat in Catalonia, home to the sanctuary of the Black Madonna, known as "La Moreneta." This means that these particular elevations were chosen by the ancients as sacred places precisely because of the peculiarities and properties of the rocks; these emitted natural energies, which can still be strongly perceived today with the aid of magnetometers.
These energies also manifested visually, especially under particular climatic conditions, through energy or light spheres such as those known as "Foo Fighters" or ball lightning, which are usually spherical or elliptical in shape. These are forms of magnetic energy, perhaps plasma, that, thanks to the piezoelectric properties of the quartz contained in the rock, emanate from it from the ground, sometimes flying away linearly, other times darting irregularly. These are identified with the so-called Marian apparitions or, for some, UFO sightings.
The sacredness of these mountains has persisted to this day, which is why in the Middle Ages, churches were later built on already sacred sites and previous sanctuaries, believing these phenomena to be of divine origin, and to replace the old cult with the new in an attempt to eradicate it.
As happens, for example, in Lourdes, famous for the apparition of the Madonna, it is now known to be a place with strong energy, laden with terrestrial magnetism. Since prehistoric times, people knew about the healing properties of these telluric forces, and consequently, the water flowing from those magnetically charged rocks was an excellent means of curing all kinds of ailments.
Pilgrims have continued to flock to this "sacred" place for millennia, long before the so-called Marian Apparition in the 19th century, which was nothing more than an electromagnetic plasma globe emanating from the rocks and mistaken for a luminous sacred image. Of course, the whole phenomenon was syncretically incorporated into Christianity once again, without being able to eradicate the previous cult of the Mother Goddess practiced until then by ancient peoples. Bulgaria, too, was a place of multiple Marian apparitions during the Middle Ages.
What is most intriguing about Gorna Krepost is certainly the presence of an octagonal tower, which is part of the medieval fortress, built with large rectangular stone blocks. This is particularly interesting because similar medieval constructions, with octagonal plans, often recall the symbolism of the Knights Templar. The Templars, who were the keepers of secrets and knowledge from a distant past, carried forward symbols that belonged to ancient lost peoples. They were emblematic of people who practiced a Primordial Religion, and the Templars were its custodians and bearers through the centuries, leading to their extermination by the Inquisition. It is no coincidence that the Templars had headquarters and commanderies in all those cities and regions characterized by a strong megalithic presence, linked to the ancient religion. This is evidence of the Knights Templar's knowledge of ancestral traditions connected to the energies flowing within our planet.
It is uncertain if the Knights Templar operated in these parts, as the area was under the "control" of their rivals, the Teutonic Knights. However, considering the sacredness of the place and its particular symbols, it suggests that they might have visited. At Perperikon, the presence of these energies made the place sacred to those who frequented it thousands of years ago, using it for astronomical, religious, and healing purposes, similar to what happened in other known megalithic sites in Europe: Stonehenge, Carnac in Brittany, the Musiné, Sardinia, and others in Italy.
It is important to bring attention to sites like Perperikon and others in this part of the Balkan region. Unfortunately, they have never been made public by Western archaeology, possibly due to reasons such as racism, envy, or other motives, as has already happened with the pyramids of Bosnia. Adding this would be another crucial piece to the long-hidden history of our planet.
