Thracian Necropolis Grifonite

The Thracian tomb from the Griffins mound is located in the so-called "Valley of the Thracian Kings", southeast of the town of Shipka. The mound was discovered by Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov in 1996, when archeological studies in the region were made. The studies were sponsored by a Swiss foundation and they discovered three burial mounds from the period of V-IV century BC, one of which is a mound Griffins (others are Helvetia and Shoushmanets).

Griffins is the westernmost of the three mounds adjacent to the tomb Helvetia. It dates from the V-IV century BC and is the best preserved stone dome necropolis, used as a mausoleum. The site consists of large, well-formed stone blocks. There is a long corridor, a rectangular room with a double-pitched roof and a circular chamber with a dome. The entrances of both premises had been closed by stone doors which have been broken in antiquity, when the tomb had been robbed.

Opposite to the entrance of the circular chamber is situated ritually stone bed with decoration. At the site were found gold beads and other artifacts that are kept in the National History Museum in Sofia.