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00:01I'm on the trail of wonders to treasure.
00:05Precious clues from the past.
00:07She's full of sensuous promise.
00:10With unmissable experiences.
00:14We're afraid why your door's open so much and they're playing with us.
00:18Hidden sites in unexpected destinations.
00:22No way. I've never seen anything like that before.
00:27Amazing, good.
00:31I'm on a global voyage of discovery to explore our shared heritage
00:35and how our past shapes all of our lives.
00:40This time I'm travelling to the mountains, valleys and coast of Bulgaria.
00:46Retracing the steps of our prehistoric ancestors.
00:50You're currently standing on more than two metres of pathfall.
00:55New finds revealed before my very eyes.
00:58No way. It's like a treasure trove.
01:02And ancient rituals that still bring us together.
01:10This is joyful in every sense of the word.
01:13Welcome to the treasures of Bulgaria.
01:19Bulgaria.
01:20Where the high peaks of the Balkan Mountains meet the Black Sea.
01:31Home to some of the earliest cultures in Europe.
01:32With history enriched by ancient Thracian, Greek, Roman, Christian and Islamic influences.
01:52I want to see how that story plays out in stunning spaces and remarkable rituals right across the country.
02:04Before I dig down into Bulgaria's treasures, first, I need to go up.
02:17Going up.
02:18So perfect conditions for flying.
02:19Perfect conditions, yeah.
02:20My first treasure is locked within the rocks of Belogradcik in the northwest of the country.
02:34I've been told the best way to see this massive, incredible expanse of geology is from up here in the skies.
02:49The rock formations here extend over an area 20 miles long and 2 miles wide.
03:01Formed as sedimentary rock some 230 million years ago.
03:06The elements have since carved them into an otherworldly terrain.
03:15It's so beautiful and so peaceful.
03:18And these rocks, because people tell stories about these rocks,
03:21they say that they're like shapes like a mother and a Madonna.
03:25Madonna, mother, Adam, Eva.
03:27Adam and Eve?
03:28Yeah.
03:29That's all over the world.
03:30If there's some amazing landscape, we always invent a story about it to explain it.
03:35Many, many stories on this rock.
03:39These mesmerising shapes are the result of differential erosion.
03:46Softer and weaker rocks are worn away by the elements, leaving ridges, canyons and stacks.
03:57So this is a natural fortress of rocks and hills.
04:02But people have also fortified it from the Thracian age onwards.
04:05The Romans and the medieval Bulgarians and then the Ottomans.
04:11So it's seen a lot of history here.
04:13This is Belagradchik fortress that we're beautifully gliding over.
04:23The history in and around these rocks is just incredible.
04:26But I'm interested in a particular story that you can find within the mountain itself.
04:32The same natural process that shaped these extraordinary pillar formations above ground has carved out hundreds of caves below.
04:49I'm heading towards one, Magura, to seek out rare clues about the lives and beliefs of our prehistoric ancestors.
05:02The cave complex stretches deep into the hill, over one and a half miles of underground chambers and passages.
05:16A habitat for bats, currently eight different species.
05:25But humans couldn't venture into this dark underground realm until they mastered fire.
05:31Unlocking the cave secrets is archaeologist Kristina Elieva.
05:41Hello!
05:42Hello!
05:43It's lovely to meet you.
05:44Lovely to meet you.
05:45And I wasn't expecting, who is this beautiful creature?
05:48That's Vars, and he's part of my team.
05:51Is he?
05:52What a cool assistant.
05:53Is Vars coming too?
05:54Yeah.
05:55Oh, great.
05:56It's amazing.
06:01For the women and men who explored these spaces, the walls became a vast subterranean canvas, representing the world above.
06:10How far are we from the entrance now?
06:24We're around 1.5 kilometers.
06:27We're deep in the cave, and just imagine them coming down here.
06:31That's a real effort, and they're only doing it presumably lit by some kind of flame or torch.
06:37Exactly.
06:38Yeah.
06:39What are these?
06:40This is a group of male figures hunting birds and deer.
06:45That's extraordinary.
06:46And on top, the rest of the population celebrating that hunt.
06:50The men clearly very happy with their hunting success.
06:53So I think, oh, yeah, yeah, so this is, that's an archer with a bow and arrow.
06:57But what they're saying is this is what matters to us up above.
07:00Exactly.
07:01Exactly.
07:02Can we, can we go through this?
07:03Of course.
07:04Yeah.
07:05The drawings include what is thought to be a solar calendar, the oldest of its kind in Europe.
07:18So, Christina, what are they using to make all these incredible drawings?
07:24Because often when you're in caves, it's almost like redder.
07:27They're using kind of red ochres and other minerals.
07:30Yeah.
07:31But, but this is much darker.
07:32What, what, what is it?
07:33It's definitely not red ochre.
07:36It's actually guano.
07:38Hang on.
07:39Because guano is bat poo.
07:41That's bat poo.
07:42And you're currently standing on more than two metres of bat poo.
07:47No way.
07:48I thought it was just like soft rock.
07:51So hang on.
07:52Did you say two metres or more?
07:54Why?
07:55It's the most natural material.
07:56Yeah.
07:57Well, I guess.
07:58Because, I mean, we've seen so many bats here.
08:01So it sort of makes sense.
08:03This is a bat's cave.
08:05And they're just using what they can because it's here.
08:09Exactly.
08:10The other thing as well is you really get this sense of progression of the narrative.
08:14It's almost like there's a sort of comic book rolling out in front of you.
08:19Exactly.
08:20The geometry of the cave actually allows for a narrative.
08:24With every single step you see a different chapter.
08:27And so this is the climax.
08:30So what are they celebrating?
08:31It's most likely the end of the agricultural season.
08:34They're celebrating collecting the crops.
08:38They're celebrating having security and surviving the winter.
08:42I mean, what you see a lot, so like here you've got them.
08:45It's very clearly a male and a female figure.
08:48So is there, I don't know, is there some kind of marriage ritual being represented?
08:53One of the theories is that the young couple comes here as individuals.
08:59They go through the journey together, arriving here, painting their portraits
09:04and coming to the outside world as a union.
09:07You see, it's so remarkable, isn't it?
09:09What you're saying, probably around 7,000 years old.
09:12I mean, that's 3,000 years before the pyramids are built.
09:16But they're going through the same things that we do
09:18because relationships are hard, but there's this whole kind of cave theatre
09:22and then people can emerge stronger and work out how to be together up above.
09:26Yeah.
09:27Whoever actually reaches that point, they deserve to be together.
09:31It's a strange place down here, but it has its own beauty too.
09:35Exactly.
09:36And that's why we try to appreciate it as much as possible.
09:40We do.
09:41Us and our trusty, exhausted assistant.
09:44You can tell he feels at home.
09:46Amazing.
09:47It's so brilliant you brought me down.
09:49Thank you so much.
09:50It's really special.
09:51It is unique, strange and beautiful.
09:57These caves resonate with experiences and aspirations from many thousands of years ago
10:04that we can still identify with today.
10:07The people who lived in these caves were from a prehistoric society.
10:16They didn't use writing, so we don't have their names.
10:20But they have left us intimate clues to their lives.
10:24And I just love the fact that they went into those caves and engaged in these really complex rituals
10:31to try to work out how to live together better and how to live successfully with nature.
10:39I'm exploring Bulgaria's treasures by land and sea.
10:56It's a dolphin.
10:57It's a dolphin.
10:58It's a dolphin.
10:59Okay, I'm in the Black Sea.
11:00And there's a dolphin following us along the boat, which is always a good sign.
11:03Because for the ancients, that was an omen of good luck.
11:04So it's going to be a good day.
11:05I've been coming to the Black Sea for years because it is so steeped in stories and secrets.
11:22And now I've been invited here to witness the discovery of a defining chapter in the history of Bulgaria.
11:32My next treasure is the ancient Greek port and sanctuary of Apollonia Pontica, now the coastal town of Sozopol.
11:45From the 8th century BCE, ancient Greeks, in search of opportunity, founded hundreds of colonies surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
11:57The ancient Greek geographer Strabo wrote that the city was originally built on a small island just off the coast.
12:04The site of a great temple to Apollo, the Greek god of the sun.
12:12That temple gave the ancient city its name, Apollonia Pontica, the city of Apollo on the Pontus or Black Sea.
12:21Until recently, the island was an off-limits military base.
12:26It's still dominated by the abandoned Sozopol Naval School, and it's home to a very special ancient site.
12:35So this was where the first ever Greek temple in Bulgaria was built, by those travelling, adventuring Greeks.
12:45Not just so they could worship their great sun god Apollo here, but also so they could create a space where they could import their identity and their rituals.
12:57The pride and joy of the city here was something remarkable.
13:06It was a 13 metre high, colossal bronze statue of the great sun god.
13:14So 13 metres is around 42, 43 feet.
13:17So that means it would have been the same size as the statue of Zeus at Olympia, which was officially one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
13:25And we know that the citizens of Apollonia Pontica loved it because they put an image of that colossal statue on their coins.
13:36And on another coin from the city, we can also tell what really mattered to them here.
13:40So again, you've got a beautiful image of Apollo on the reverse.
13:44And then here, there's an anchor which tells us that the Black Sea and the sailors and ships who travelled on it
13:52were what really mattered to the city.
13:55And the anchor is still the symbol of Sozopol today.
14:04Only the foundations of the temple survive.
14:07The great statue was looted and displayed in Rome in the first century BCE.
14:13And traces remain of the bustling port city that grew up around the ancient sanctuary.
14:27I'm meeting my archaeologist contacts at the harbour because their dig is underwater.
14:32Hello.
14:37Hello.
14:38Nice to see you.
14:39I will.
14:41Lovely boat.
14:42Lovely boat.
14:44It's our boat, Christina.
14:45Nice.
14:46Hi, hi, guys.
14:47Hi.
14:48The team from Sozopol's Centre for Underwater Archaeology has been working here for years.
14:53Nice to see you.
14:54This dig season, they're opening a new trench deep in the historic harbour.
15:01It's a lovely harbour now, but it would have been really busy, I imagine, in the classical period.
15:07It was very important because it was the best protected harbour
15:11along the entire southern part of the western Black Sea coast.
15:15Wow.
15:16So it must make it really rich archaeologically for you on the seabed.
15:32It is.
15:33It is.
15:34The harbour was established at the very beginning, of course, at the end of the 7th century BC,
15:41when the town was established, and from that moment to present, it was used every day.
15:47Yeah, incredible.
15:48I'm dying to get in.
15:49Let's go.
15:50OK, let's go.
15:56The divers have already excavated a five-by-five-metre trench
16:00with huge pumps sucking away the sand and silt.
16:04It's not warm.
16:14So we're above the site now.
16:16Yes.
16:17How good, see?
16:19OK.
16:20Good luck.
16:21OK, thank you.
16:22As each layer of the seabed is exposed, the archaeological material is carefully recorded.
16:42No way!
16:43Good luck.
16:44No way!
16:45This is river Fasna.
16:47No way, Naiden!
16:49It is a small example of what we find here, but this is a really nice early ampoule.
16:58It is!
16:59So...
17:00Can I hold it?
17:01Yes.
17:03Oh, look at that.
17:05So last drop onto the black seabed.
17:08What do you think?
17:092,500?
17:102,500.
17:11Yeah, 2,500, yeah.
17:12I think it's before.
17:13Yeah.
17:14So 2,500 years ago, dropped probably because it was broken.
17:19Yeah.
17:20Because someone had smashed it, so it was, like, put into the rubbish tip of the sea, and
17:24now we're holding it.
17:25We have found thousands of pot vessels, but not an entire, complete, untouched vessel.
17:33Yes.
17:34So if they get cracks or broken pieces, they throw everything into the sea.
17:42Yeah.
17:43So this is...
17:44What do you think they would have put in here, like wine or grain or oil?
17:49Yes, all these things, also resin, grease.
17:54We have found some examples with the ingredients, the content.
18:00Look, can you see inside?
18:02There's silk, but that's the...
18:06That's what was ever inside originally as well.
18:09Naidan, that is pretty, pretty impressive.
18:13The last person to touch it was some sailor or labourer on the boats.
18:18You want to try another piece?
18:20Yes, please.
18:21I don't want to let this go.
18:23OK.
18:24Here we go.
18:32Naidan.
18:33OK.
18:34So this...
18:35Now you've got the other half.
18:36The bottom, yes.
18:37The bottom.
18:38So they're this shape, aren't they?
18:39So that you can carry it over your shoulder.
18:40OK.
18:41And pull really easily.
18:42And then you...
18:43It's perfect for storing.
18:44You get lots of these packed up against one another.
18:46Yeah.
18:47It's beautiful.
18:48It is.
18:49It's a beautiful thing.
18:50Not a bad way to discover history, though.
18:51This is so rich here.
18:52Really, really spectacular.
18:53Really fabulous.
18:58Amazing, very cool, thank you.
19:13fabulous. Thank you. Amazing. Very cool. Thank you. You're welcome. Very cool. I'm very happy.
19:27And very cold. The finds in Sozopol are evidence of ancient Greeks importing their goods,
19:36customs and culture into Bulgaria or Thrace as it was back then.
19:47Now I'm going to meet a community of, wait for it, Bulgarians with Greek heritage who still live here.
19:55Look at this. Looks lovely. Ah, we can go and sit down. Hello. Hi. Hello.
20:06Is it okay to join you? Oh, thank you. No, I'll go here. Oh, okay. Thank you. Thank you.
20:16So I've just been given an Ouzo, which is a fantastically Greek drink, but this fits
20:28because this is a community here who traces their ancestors right the way back to ancient Greek
20:33heritage. Yes. It's genuinely exciting for me because I've always wanted to meet these communities
20:40of people who live on the Black Sea, but who have ancestry stretching back to Greece. And, and,
20:46and is it right that some of the words that you use are like an ancient form of Greek? Could you say
20:53one of those words to me, one of the archaic Greek words? Ornita. Ornita for kota. Ornita?
21:01Ornita. Ornita for kota. Ornita for kota. Ornita for kota. Ornita for kota. Ornita for kota.
21:06Ah, okay. So it's like, cause it is, that's not the modern Greek for, for, for, for chicken.
21:11Kota. Kota. Kota.
21:13Kota. Kota. Kota.
21:14Kota. Bobby.
21:16Bobby. Bobby. Bobby. My. Bobby. Bobby.
21:18Aspasia. Aspasia is the name of, of, of the great, uh... Pericle.
21:23Per... Pericle. Yeah. Exactly.
21:25Well, this is, because this is like the consort of, uh, companion of Pericles, the ancient Greek general.
21:32Do you feel proud of those ancient Greek ancestors and, you know, do you feel connected to them?
21:39We touch them, we are interested in history, and in this sense, we keep the traditions and bring them to younger people.
22:02Oh, Paris, what an amazing thing to be given, Greek cakes and ouzo, and it's just, you know, if you think today that I've been discovering evidence of ancient Greece on the seabed,
22:17and now here I am surrounded by people who say they're living in a mini Greece, and they still use the same word for sea, you were saying thalassa, thalassa, which is the ancient Greek word for sea,
22:28and that's what they say today. So it's just a real privilege to see this line that's stretched all the way, unbroken, across thousands of years.
22:38So people came here from ancient Greece to enjoy ritual and a shared experience together, and it's still happening now here on the coast of the Black Sea.
22:47Llamas again. Llamas. Llamas. Llamas. Llamas. Llamas. Llamas. Thank you.
22:54Paris, Paris, Paris. Paris, Paris. Paris. Paris, Paris, Apr猫s lERE.
23:12My next treasure is Bulgaria's modern rituals with their roots in an ancient past.
23:19I just had to show you this.
23:26So this is the modern village of De Belt,
23:30but it's the ancient Roman city of De Ultum,
23:34and there are some seriously significant finds being discovered here.
23:40Founded in the 1st century CE as a settlement for retired Roman soldiers,
23:46De Ultum grew into a thriving, sprawling city,
23:50which archaeologists have been successfully uncovering.
23:55Oh, hello!
23:57Lovely to see you!
23:59And this year, my old friend, Ludmille Wagelinski,
24:03has something special to show me in one of the city's graveyards.
24:08You found something extraordinary here.
24:10Oh, yeah, sure.
24:11I had this on the grave.
24:12We are all lucky.
24:14Really lucky.
24:16So what is that?
24:16Silver, very delicate, fragile,
24:19with inscription in ancient Greek,
24:21and the names of two of the archangels and of Christ are written.
24:27So, namely, Gabriel Michael, protector.
24:30Protector is for the Christ,
24:32and the name of the Christ and the cross.
24:34Yeah.
24:35The end of the 2nd century AD.
24:37We've just got to stop for a moment,
24:38because this is incredibly significant.
24:41This is the earliest evidence of Christianity.
24:45Archaeological evidence.
24:46Here in Bulgaria.
24:47Because this is a silver amulet,
24:48and it's been rolled up and left next to the dead person's head
24:52and wrapped in cloth,
24:54then the idea is to protect him or her,
24:57but that also tells us this is a secret faith.
25:01So this is somebody who's having to protect the fact that they're Christian.
25:05It's an incredible story.
25:06It's an incredible story.
25:07Their faith and how they try to keep their faith, but secretly.
25:12Exactly.
25:13So, I mean, this is a history-making discovery for this,
25:18and it tells us about this moment when Christianity was still hidden.
25:21From its beginnings as an outlawed and persecuted faith,
25:28in the medieval times, Christianity grew and flourished here.
25:33In the 9th century, Bulgaria's kings converted to Orthodox Christianity.
25:39And now, the Christian faith is very much not hiding in the shadows.
25:44It's close to midnight in Veliko Ternovo,
25:49on the eve of the most sacred day in the Christian calendar, Easter.
25:55Holy fire is brought out of the church and shared between the faithful
25:59to signify the rebirth of Christ and renewed hope.
26:05The conviction here is that these flames have been shared
26:09from a miraculous flame that appears on the anniversary of Christ's resurrection
26:14in the Holy Sepulchre itself, so in the place where Jesus was buried.
26:20And it is amazing to be a part of this because it's so authentic.
26:24The feelings are so strong and so sincere.
26:29And I love it because I know that all the time,
26:32religions have used flame to represent rebirth and fertility
26:37and the regeneration of life.
26:39It was always altars of flame and piles of incense,
26:43and so now we've got candles and incense burners.
26:49The power of this sacred theatre has particular punch
26:53thanks to this location's history.
26:57The ceremony is so significant here
26:59because this is one of the greatest strongholds of Christianity
27:03in medieval Bulgaria.
27:05And actually the kings who ruled those Christian kingdoms
27:09from that very fort there
27:12really interestingly called themselves the Tsars
27:15after ancient Roman Caesars.
27:18So this is one of those places where you have a chain of traditions
27:22where every single segment links one era with another.
27:26And it's one of those places where you have a chain of traditions.
27:29Across 113,000 square miles,
27:32Bulgaria's 13th century kings ruled one of Europe's most extensive
27:36and powerful states with their capital in Tenovo.
27:42The era is still seen as a high point of Bulgarian culture
27:46with Veliko Tenovo a powerhouse,
27:50giving its name to the Tenovo School of Art,
27:52which left a lasting mark in art, architecture, language and literature.
28:02Now I've just got a few hours to travel from Veliko Tenovo
28:06to Batskovo in the southwest
28:08to witness another historic ritual.
28:15I'm heading somewhere where a tradition that is centuries old
28:19is being taken deep into the heart of nature.
28:29This is Batskovo Monastery
28:31in the foothills of the Rodope Mountains.
28:35And every Easter Monday since the 17th century,
28:38hundreds of pilgrims gather to walk in procession,
28:42carrying a holy icon of the Virgin Mary up into the mountains,
28:46where the icon is said to have once miraculously appeared.
28:54So what they've been saying is Christ has risen
28:58and the crowd replies he's risen indeed.
29:01And the reason people will be allowed to carry the icon
29:03is it's thought to have these special protecting powers.
29:06So if you touch it or if you're near to it,
29:08it will help protect you and bring you luck for the rest of your life.
29:11the life of Christ, our God, to give you the best.
29:15,
29:33Every year there is so much.
29:35And it's such a beautiful place for this ritual to happen.
30:05The procession ends at a small chapel at the foot of a sheer cliff where it said the icon appeared.
30:21Nearby water, also considered miraculous, springs from the rocks.
30:28Here, pilgrims have a chance to adore the icon and to commune with nature.
30:35I won, I won, I won, I won.
30:52I'm definitely winning, I'm definitely winning.
30:59How brilliant.
31:00So after all that hike up the mountain, they're offering you food and drink and Easter eggs here.
31:06And there does feel to be something so timeless about these customs.
31:10Partly because they've been happening for hundreds of years and pilgrims and travellers have been coming here.
31:16The ritual itself is unchanged.
31:18But also because it celebrates those eternal values about our love of the idea of birth and death and then rebirth.
31:26And also just sharing things and celebrating life.
31:33I'm continuing my journey, exploring Bulgaria's deep-rooted and diverse heritage with my next treasure, the multi-layered city of Plovdiv.
31:56It's been attracting artists and authors for two and a half thousand years.
32:03One of whom offered a truly divine perspective.
32:08I just love the fact that one of my favourite authors from antiquity, Lucian of Samosata, imagined a scenario here where Greek gods flew above this place and detailed how sublime it was.
32:21Writing in the second century CE, Lucian, a Greek-speaking satirist from what's now Turkey, calls Plovdiv a queen among cities, lying between three rugged peaks on the plain between the Balkan and Rodope mountains.
32:37So let's take an ancient gods eye tour.
32:40Called Philippopolis, after Alexander the Great's father, Philip, Plovdiv has remained a leading light of the Balkans.
32:53This is a playbook when it comes to tracking how people from all walks of life and all points of the compass create environments that are both useful and beautiful.
33:06The ancient theatre, once used for gladiator fights and political assemblies, now hosts plays and concerts.
33:18The Roman remains have made Plovdiv famous, but they represent just one layer of the city's past.
33:27A few steps from the city's half-buried Roman stadium is the Jumaya Mosque, one of the largest and oldest in Bulgaria.
33:37A reminder of 500 years of Turkish-Ottoman rule, which lasted here until the end of the 19th century.
33:46You can just tell that all this beauty has been carefully crafted so that people can come to celebrate here together.
34:02And when it's full, you can fit over 1,200 people inside the mosque.
34:08This place is at the heart of Plovdiv's Muslim community, who've lived for centuries in Bulgaria alongside Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Roma and others.
34:25Each leaving their own unique mark.
34:30In the mosque cafe, I meet mother and daughter, Katrin and Veselina Sarajeva, long-standing champions of the city's diversity and creativity.
34:40It's so wonderful to be here because I always read these accounts through time for people saying how beautiful Plovdiv is.
34:49What's it like to live in? Is it a beautiful place to live too?
34:54Yeah, it's because it's a multicultural city. It has always been a tolerant city.
34:59And I think it creates a feeling of a common place where everyone can live together, can understand and learn from each other what is very important.
35:10And I think it's a great place to live and develop and bring some values from the past that are relevant today to the future.
35:21Do you get that sense here in Plovdiv? It does feel like a slightly different kind of city, that the past is very much alive here.
35:30Yeah, and it's not only about tradition, but using, you know, contemporary art, bringing people from all over the world Plovdiv,
35:39because this was also our mission to show Plovdiv to people outside of Bulgaria.
35:44Bring it on. That's my kind of place.
35:47Bring it on. Welcome.
35:50And you do amazing baklava as well.
35:53Yeah. As well as being tolerant.
35:55Oh, lovely too. And thank you so much for bringing these.
35:57So lovely to meet you both. So lovely to see you.
36:00Yeah, thank you. Thank you.
36:08And there's one quarter where these different cultural threads really come together.
36:13The grand 19th century houses of old Plovdiv, built during a time of increasing national confidence.
36:28This house belonged to Stepan Manuk, a wealthy Armenian merchant.
36:33Lavishly decorated with carved wood, moulded plasterwork and painted walls and ceilings.
36:40The house is a fusion of Western and Eastern influences.
36:45The house is a fusion.
36:47Including a marble lined Turkish bath and a fountain running with rose water.
36:58This is Constantinople and the Prince's Islands and Peter's Islands that you can see from what's modern day Istanbul.
37:07There are images of Venice and Russia.
37:10And this is what was happening here in the 19th century.
37:13People were winning out by being interconnected.
37:16And so it's brilliantly cosmopolitan, the whole place.
37:19This is how I'd decorate my home if I had one, like this.
37:27One of the most distinctive features of old Plovdiv's houses are the painted niches known as a la franga.
37:35The word means in the French manner, in Turkish, and also refers to the mid 19th century Ottoman fashion for all things perceived as European.
37:46And then for me, the climax is this.
37:50It's a wonder of the ancient world.
37:53It's the fabulous lighthouse of Alexandria that welcomed in ships to a port that was famed for being a hub of ideas and wisdom and understanding and interchange.
38:08And the particularly beautiful thing is that the writing above it, which says this is the city of Alexandria, is written in the Turkish language in an Armenian script here in Bulgaria.
38:21In the 20th century, the merchant houses of old Plovdiv were repurposed and opened up for all to enjoy.
38:35Plovdiv is described as a city that is both ancient and eternal, and it deserves those names because this is somewhere where the culture and heritage has both beauty and meaning.
38:53Early June, in the Valley of the Roses, humming with activity even before dawn.
39:05My final treasure is the damask rose, a symbol of Bulgaria's historic culture.
39:17It thrives in the region of Kazanluk, in the country's heart.
39:22We always get up early when we're filming to capture the beautiful morning light.
39:30But this time, we're here to make the most of a bit of botanical magic because all of these roses have their highest concentration of their precious rose oil before the sunrise.
39:42A constituent that diminishes in every single rose petal of the heat and the light of the full sun.
39:50The valley is blessed with the protection of these mountains, whose peaks shelter the damask rose and rich archaeology.
40:10Hundreds of ancient Thracian burial mounds still stand tall among the rose fields.
40:20In this area alone, they include marvels like the richly painted Kazanluk tomb,
40:28the golden mask of Thracian king Teres I,
40:32and nearby the extraordinary 2,000-year-old Caranovo burial, complete with a four-wheeled chariot,
40:40the skeletons of two horses and a pet dog all buried alongside their noble owner.
40:47The Thracian kings are now long gone.
40:50Ever since its introduction into the valley in the Turkish Ottoman era, this has been the kingdom of the damask rose.
40:57Every year, 10 to 15,000 tonnes of petals are handpicked in this valley.
41:05Thank you. Oh mate, that's so kind. Thank you.
41:08The largest rose harvest in the world and a vital part of the country's economy.
41:13Even the mayor of the local village takes a hands-on approach to supporting the harvest and us early risers.
41:22Oh, it smells really heavenly.
41:27And you need huge amounts of this, so you need 5,000 kilograms of rose petals to make just one litre of rose salt.
41:35So that's basically this whole field. It's fantastic. You've got so much.
41:40This is the mayor, by the way.
41:42I just got to ask, is that banica?
41:45Amazing.
41:47Got about 10,000 calories per slice.
41:49It's just butter and cheese and kind of like pasta. It's so good.
41:52Amazing. Freshly baked.
41:55Who made this?
42:00Oh my God.
42:01Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.
42:06It's amazing, isn't it?
42:08The nuts are at dawn.
42:10Oh, good.
42:17As soon as they've been harvested, the petals are whisked away to be transformed into liquid gold.
42:25The essential oil, or attar of the rose, is obtained by steam distillation.
42:35A process first invented 1,000 years ago by the great Persian scholar Ibn Sinha.
42:41Wow.
42:43That's actually really intense.
42:45Yes, it is.
42:47That is a lot of rose oil.
42:49Bulgarian rose oil features in many of the world's most famous perfumes.
42:56This is 5,000 euros worth.
43:02In antiquity, too, scent was hugely valuable.
43:06And I've been lucky enough to get my hands on some stunning evidence recently uncovered here in Bulgaria.
43:15What you're looking at here is a glass perfume bottle from the Roman period.
43:23It's absolutely intact, and it's still got its perfume inside.
43:29I mean, this is just incredible. There isn't a chip on it.
43:32This would have been used by the people here maybe to anoint their dead or just to make themselves smell gorgeous for a special evening out.
43:42So it's like it's the past reaching out to touch the present.
43:47Ancient esteem for these highly valued scents is matched by a passion that still inspires.
44:04In the town of Kazanluk, a rose festival was established in 1903 to celebrate the damask rose and its heritage.
44:12I've arranged to meet another old friend and fellow historian, Rajaslav Petkov of Kazanluk Museum.
44:23My friend, Rado, who lives here, he's going to...
44:26Hi, lovely to see you.
44:28Lovely to see you. How are you?
44:30Good for you.
44:31OK.
44:33The rose is so brilliant to see this.
44:36Yes, it's amazing.
44:37It's so, like, you can tell they just love the roses here.
44:41Everyone loves the roses here because he gave it everything for us.
44:45Yeah, yeah.
44:46The food, the heart, everything.
44:48We have a lot of heritage here.
44:50It's racial culture and the rose.
44:52I love it.
44:53Shall we go and catch up with them?
44:54OK.
44:55Look who I just popped into. It's the mayor of the rose fields and these are her horses that she's brought in.
45:16They're so beautiful.
45:17It's really interesting to see the horses because they were worried that they used to be scared by the noise so they put them at the back.
45:29But it's fantastic.
45:30Migration chariots would originally come on parades like this.
45:34I've got to go.
45:37It's a joy to see how this festival honours the past while celebrating the modern harvest.
45:47Ritual and living tradition are really significant here in Bulgaria and that's important because we don't need all of this, but somehow it matters.
45:56And because it's repeated again and again over the years, it forces us to focus and both to be in the moment and linked back to a very deep past.
46:07All of this connects us to those around us and to the lives of others through time whose paths have shaped the world that we live in now.
46:16Co-chairs you are.
46:18This place is out there.
46:19Let's go.
46:20Now.
46:21When you're in now.
46:22Now.
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46:24Now.
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46:29Now.
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46:43Now.
46:44Transcription by CastingWords
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