Sofrata

The largest and most complex rock sanctuary known in this part of the Stara Planina is the 'Sofrata of Valchan voyvoda'. A small fortified settlement probably belongs to the complex. Its inhabitants probably guarded the pass, and it may be supposed that they carried out the stonework of levelling the rock terraces at the sanctuaries.

At the centre of the rock a structure compared to a truncated pyramid is cut. A semicircular platform with a rectangular depression is modelled on its upper surface, and channels cut into the rock lead out from it. Near the highest point of the semicircle, beside the channels, a large quantity of ash was found during archaeological investigation.

Close to what Pavlina Petrova calls the 'pyramidal altar', in the highest part of the rock terrace, an oval sector is set off by deep grooves. This is the so-called 'sofra' (a low round table). Numerous irregular, roughly spherical holes of different sizes are cut into the surface of the oval space. Markers placed in the holes outline directions that coincide with the orientation of important channels in the other sectors of the sanctuary. The oval slab resembling a sofra is a kind of centre linking the various sectors, and it is very probable that its shape gave it the popular name.

The complex was studied between 1994 and 1999 by an interdisciplinary team. The scientific leader was Dr Pavlina Hr. Petrova, head of the archaeology department of the Cultural Heritage Directorate in Shumen. Team members included Dr Andrey Andreev and Dr Yuriy Dachev, lecturers at the university in Shumen, and the astrophysicists Dr Dimitar Kolev and Veselina Koleva of the Rozhen National Astronomical Observatory. Technical documentation was prepared by Boycho Hristov and Ivan Ivanov of the Directorate.

Only fine ash was found in the embankment of the sanctuary, with no trace of animal bones, which lowers the likelihood of bloody sacrifices.