In a remote forest in the Strandja Mountains, a team of Bulgarian archaeologists has unearthed the ruins of an unrecorded Odrysian Thracian temple dating to the late 4th century BCE. The sanctuary is dedicated to the Great Mother Goddess and is built directly into a limestone cliff. The site features a central circular altar and a series of deep niches that once held votive figurines made of local clay and silver.
This discovery provides rare evidence of the Thracian 'Mountain Temple' tradition, where religious sites were designed to harmonize with the natural topography. Excavations have revealed a cache of ritual daggers and ceramic vessels imported from the Aegean, indicating that the sanctuary was a significant regional religious center with broad cultural connections. The site's remote location has kept its ornate stone carvings remarkably well-preserved from tomb robbers.