The fully restored second ancient marble statue of Heraclea Sintica was shown for the first time to the public at the National Archaeological Institute with Museum of BAS (NAIM-BAS) – upright, fortified and with its head restored in place after months of intensive restoration work. The statue was unearthed in 2024 by Prof. Dr. Lyudmil Vagalinski’s team during excavations at the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica and is the second of human stature to be found in the ancient city’s Grand Canal near Rupite village. The marble monument has stood in the ground for over 1600 years.
“Our lands are a cradle of antiquity, a cradle of civilizations, and thanks to the focused efforts of Bulgarian archaeologists, they are becoming available to the general public,” Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said at the presentation in the museum and assured that the government would continue to support archaeological activities and provide targeted funding.
The Deputy Minister of Culture Assoc. Prof. Todor Chobanov offered sincere congratulations and huge gratitude to all those who worked on this “masterpiece of ancient civilization”. He described it as an object that could adorn the most representative spaces of any world museum.
The Vice-President of BAS Prof. DSc Emmanuel Moutafov noted that “…among the most impressive archaeological discoveries in 2024 are undoubtedly the two marble statues found under the town square of the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica which Prof. Vagalinski calls cloaca maxima. Unlike the first statue, the condition of the second one did not allow its exposure immediately after the excavations,” Prof. Moutafov said.
“In the specialized laboratory of NAIM – BAS, in the past months, an examination and radiographic photography of the damaged parts was carried out,” the Vice-President of BAS said and stressed that “thanks to the professional work of the team of restorers, the valuable find has been further strengthened which allows the statue to be exhibited in an upright form. He thanked for the professional approach of the restorer Reneta Karamanova and for her dealing with the challenges of strengthening and exposing the second statue. As a graduate of the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Athens, Prof. Moutafov also made a brief iconographic analysis of the statue with parallels, on the basis of which he attributed it to the art of the age of Emperor Augustus, calling for an interdisciplinary debate before making hypotheses to identify the figure that adorned the forum of Heraclea Sintica.
In his speech, Prof. Emmanuel Moutafov said that the leadership of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences supported Prof. Lyudmil Vagalinski who led the excavations of Heraclea Sintica, assisted the director Assoc. Prof. Hristo Popov in his large-scale exposition activities and thanked the municipal authorities in Petrich who cooperated with the archaeologists in their activities to uncover and preserve our cultural heritage. The President of BAS, Corr. Memb. Evelina Slavcheva, was also able to honour the opening of the landmark find and congratulated personally Prof. Vagalinski for the success of his team.
During the presentation, the head of the excavations, Prof. Lyudmil Vagalinski, pointed out that this statue was an emblematic example of the fact that things happened when institutions worked together – archaeologists, municipality, government. “The word that best characterizes today’s event is partnership,” the Director of NAIM-BAS, Assoc. Prof. Hristo Popov, said and talked about the work of the team, the restoration process, the challenges surrounding the restoration and the innovative methods used in conservation.
The second statue of Heraclea Sintica was presented as part of the exhibition “One Head Higher” after an eight-month restoration and will remain in Sofia until October after which it will be moved to the city museum in Petrich.
The statue can be seen at NAIM – BAS until October 2025.
