Mitrovitsa

The cult place is situated on a towering rock summit above the east bank of the Mesta river, near the village of the same name. Several shaped platforms rise one above another in the rocks. The summit of Mitrovitsa lies above the confluence of the Retizhe, Mesta and Gradinishka rivers, and from it there is a panorama towards the sacralised rock formation Osenovska kamenna svatba and the cirque of Popovo ezero in Pirin, and to the south towards the rock sanctuary at the peak of Ostrets and the megalithic sanctuary of Kara kaya in the Western Rhodopes.

The sacred territory covers about 1,5 km along a long ridge descending from the Western Rhodopes to the Mesta. Within it seven cult centres have been distinguished, most of them defined by rock carvings or built structures. The most sacred part is at the summit, where the highest platform lay and the sacred space is organised on three levels, with clear traces of ancient ritual practice. According to Prof. Vasil Markov, the thick cult layer indicates a small ritual hall built on the middle cult platform in the Thraco-Roman period. On the second-highest platform today stands the churchyard of St Demetrius (Свети Димитър), which inherited the ancient cult monument and is still venerated. Christianisation is often seen at especially important pagan sanctuaries.

In the lower part, in the locality of Padala, the sacralised territory also had an architectural component, which was badly damaged by looting. Small architectural complexes were built around a sizeable stone mound that served as an altar in antiquity. About 150 m from this mound-altar, on a small ridge descending to the south, stands Vrten kamak, a megalithic arch. About 200 m south of the locality of Zhelyaznitsata lies the rock massif Vetrilnitsata, about 20 m high, which also belongs to the sacralised territory. On its levelled top are three rock platforms used for cult activity in antiquity, with pits cut into the rock as altars, often connected with one another by cut channels.

Field surveys led by Prof. Vasil Markov recorded parts of dry-stone walling, construction bonded with lime mortar, and fragments of Roman building ceramics. Household pottery is dated from the pre-Roman, Roman and Late Antique periods (first millennium BC - fourth century AD). The finds include an iron sickle, a spindle whorl and a loom weight. The pottery from Vetrilnitsata leads archaeologists to date that cult site to the pre-Roman period.