Ancient town Herakleya Sintika

The remains of the ancient city of Herculaneum Sintica (also known under the names Cynthia, Herculaneum Sintica or Herculaneum Strimonska) is located in South Bulgaria in  near the village of Rupite (Petrich municipality), on the southern slope of the volcanic hill Kozhuh.

In ancient times the town was a center of the Sintica region, inhabited by Thracian tribes Sinti. The town is dead after a devastating earthquake in 388 years.

Herculaneum Sintica is one of the few ancient cities certain localized in the region around Struma. The city is localized in 2002 by Assoc. Prof. Georgi Mitrev, after an accidental discovery of a large Latin inscription.

Archaeological studies indicate that the settlement was well developed for its time and there was a sewerage system.

After excavations were revealed molds and a wide variety of glazed figures, which indicates the presence of crafts and workshops. There were found also coins, and two votive tablets - of Heracles and of Artemis - the goddess of the hunt.