Lilac rock sanctuary

Люляково светилище lies in the fields of Средна гора, in the territory of the village Розовец, below the summit Градището in Пловдив district. It is a cult megalithic sanctuary named after the nearby lilac grove. The site is part of the wider area associated with the Thracian Odrysians, near the villages Розовец and Бабек, where Thracian finds were first recorded in the 1850-ти години.

The sanctuary includes granite rock altars, a seat-like throne, carved channels and a round hollow resembling a шарапан. Its main feature is a well-preserved megalithic stela, the only one of its kind preserved in Bulgaria. The stela is 2 m high and stands in a specially shaped rock bed on a rocky slope facing south, with a narrow platform in front of it. It is turned toward Пловдивското поле.

Prof. Валерия Фол interpreted the site as a typical extra-settlement sanctuary with a summit. She proposed that ceremonies there honoured the god Слънце and the Велика Богиня майка, with young people presenting offerings of fruit, herbs and flowers at the summer solstice. She regarded the stela as an important place of regional belief and ritual, while noting that its full function remains a question for future research. This interpretation is hypothetical and is not based on archaeological excavations.

The Брезово municipality first organised a “Празник на лятното слънцестоене” at the sanctuary in 2011 г. on 22 юни. The reconstructed ritual included offerings of dried fruit, wine, milk and water, followed by the placing of gifts before the Слънчевата стела. It lasts one hour. A marked walking route from Бабек takes about 30 minutes. In this region, the wider landscape also includes Bulgaria’s largest dolmen at Плочата and megalithic structures at Купелът.

Lilac rock sanctuary is a megalith (abstract root) in Rozovets, Bulgaria. No English Wikipedia article exists for it; the full text below is the Bulgarian article "Люляково светилище", shown in the original language.