Message #259430

[Cassandra]

Achaeologists from Bulgaria’s National Museum of History have uncovered more of what appears to have been a “luxury” Ancient Roman road station near the Roman fortress Sostra located close to today’s town of Troyan on the route of Via Trajana, a major road used by Emperor Trajan (r. 98-117 AD).

Via Trajana, which runs through the Troyan Pass of the Balkan Mountains, was vital in Roman Emperor Trajan’s wars for conquering the Dacians, the resisting Thracian tribes north of the Lower Danube, in today’s Romania. It linked the Ancient Roman city of Philipopolis (today’s Plovdiv in Southern Bulgaria) in the Roman province of Thrace, with two major Roman outposts on the Lower Danube frontier, the so called limes – Ulpia Oescus near today’s town of Gigen and Novae near today’s town Svishtov, in the Roman province of Moesia.

A week ago an archaeological team led by Prof. Dr. Ivan Hristov, Deputy Director of Bulgaria’s National Museum of History, resumed excavations of the Roman road station near the Sostra Fortress, the Museum press service has announced.

The archaeologists have now uncovered more of the Roman road station. It was first found in April 2014 by Hristov’s team, which over the past few years has also been excavating the Sostra Fortress, an Early Christian basilica, residential buildings, and a section of the Roman road, all of which are located in close proximity forming an entire archaeological complex with an area of app. 6 square km in the valley of the Osam River.

It has been announced that the Roman road station near the Sostra Fortress covers an area of 500 square meters, and its walls have been preserved to a height of 2 meters.

According to the announcement of Bulgaria’s National Museum of History, the newly uncovered Roman road station might turn out to be one of the largest and the most “luxurious” of all Roman road station found to date in Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian archaeologists have discovered that it used to feature both a hypocaust, i.e. Ancient Roman underfloor heating, whose pipes have now been unearthed, and a large indoor swimming pool. Other swimming pools have been found nearby in what seems to have been an ancient spa complex with warm mineral springs.
This 2014 photo shows part of the Roman road station near the Sostra Fortress first discovered in April 2014. Photo: National Museum of History