Perperikon

Perperikon
	The ruins of the ancient city of Perperikon
	Shown within Bulgaria
Location	Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria
Region	Thrace
Coordinates	41°42′53″N 25°27′55″E / 41.71472°N 25.46528°E
Type	Settlement, capital with Palace and Shrine
History
Material	rock-cut, stone masonry
Founded	5000 BCE, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Classical era
Abandoned	14th century
Cultures	Thracians
Site notes
Excavation dates	1931; from 2000 and still ongoing;
Archaeologists	Nikolay Ovcharov
Condition	In ruins

Perperikon (Bulgarian: Перперикон), also Perpericum, is an ancient Thracian city located in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains, 15 km northeast of the present-day town of Kardzhali, Bulgaria on a 470 m high rocky hill, which is thought to have been a sacred place. The village of Gorna krepost ("Upper Fortress") is located at the foot of the hill and the gold-bearing Perpereshka River flows nearby. Perperikon is the largest megalith ensemble site in the Balkans. In the Middle Ages Perperikon served as a fortress.