Archaeologists from the National History Museum reveal the secrets of the mystical monastery "St. John Prodrom" in Ahtopol

For the third year in a row, a team of the National History Museum, under the leadership of the director of the museum - Assoc. Dr. Bonni Petrunova, started the archaeological research of the medieval monastery "St. Ioan Prodrom", Ahtopol.

Archaeologists from NIM continue to reveal the secrets of the mysterious monastery, the alleged refuge of the Metropolitan of Agathopol, and last year two graves dug into the rock were discovered in the nave of the church, in which, in all probability, deceased metropolitans were buried. According to Associate Professor Petrunova “This once mighty monastery has been often desecrated and destroyed in the past, making it quite a scientific challenge. A similar finding is also confirmed by the cannonballs found on the site, dating from the Cossack attacks in the XVI-XVII centuries, described in an anonymous note from a liturgical book: "In 1623, Cossacks with seventeen Seagulls devastated the city of Agatopol... They tied up the monks of the monastery, took them with them and went to Sozopol...". We hope that the research will reveal new evidence for the important historical role of the city of Ahtopol over the centuries, and this will also provide an opportunity to reveal details related to the architecture and layout of the monastery, as well as the daily life of its inhabitants."

In just the first few days of this year's excavations, interesting cultural values ​​have already been uncovered, such as a coin of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI (886 – 912). Leo VI the Philosopher (or the Wise) is known to be the one who forced Simeon I the Great to break the 30-year peace imposed by Boris I Michael. The same, under the pressure of his mistress Zoya Zautzena and her father Stilian Zautza, Leo VI moved the marketplace for Bulgarian goods from Constantinople to Thessaloniki and imposed heavy taxes on them, and then ignored the envoys of Simeon I (Rashev, 2007), as in the summer in 896, Simeon I undertook his first march to Constantinople, as a result of which Bulgaria received territories between the Black Sea and Strandzha from Byzantium (Zlatarski 1994).