Кулата

Кулата is a prehistoric megalithic sanctuary in the Кулата locality, within the municipality of Стрелча, Bulgaria. It lies 7 km south-south-west of the city of Копривщица and 12 km north-north-east of Стрелча. The complex stands on the ridge of a north-south watershed, above the Стрелчанска долина, with views toward the peaks Бунай and Стръмонос to the west and Влък and Богдан to the east.

Its dominant feature is a sacrificial altar placed on two needle-shaped blocks. It has a seat-like form, with a diameter of 0,90 m, and is classified among the so-called „тронове“ known from many sanctuaries in the Eastern Mediterranean. A left footstep is carved on its southern side, while its upper surface is covered with numerous cut marks. Nearby stands an arched rock formation 1,87 m high and 1,60 m wide, oriented toward the south-east, and a stepped stone structure resembling the пирустия recorded in the Северен Пирин.

The earliest cultural layer at the complex dates to the Chalcolithic, followed by a break in the Bronze Age, after which the Thracians recognized it as a sacred territory. It probably played an important role in the myth-ritual practices of the Odrysian rulers in the Iron Age and Late Antiquity. The site also contains one of the tallest menhirs in Bulgaria, measuring 5.80 m. First field research was carried out in 2008 by Николета Петкова, who first published the discovery.

Scholars suppose that the megalithic sanctuaries at Скумсале, Качулата and Кулата, together with the still unresearched sanctuaries Исара, Турчинов камък and Студен кладенец near Стрелча, are closely connected. Researchers have brought in archaeoastronomer д-р Алексей Стоев because the rock formations may share something with celestial phenomena. Monuments of this kind in the Eastern Rhodope and Strandzha mountains of Bulgaria were cut, carved and used as sanctuaries for thousands of years, and the Thracians reused many such sites.

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