
In the southwest part of Mezdra on a high rocky hill, which is towering above the left bank of the Iskar river, is preserved 70 centuries old history, which is told today at the Archaeological Complex “Kaleto”. The hill is naturally defended and it is situated on place which is a point of intersection of main roads used since ancient times. At this crossroad of civilizations, remains were collected from the entire history of mankind – from the Copper-stone age to the Middle Ages. The hill above the Iskar river has kept the traces of two consecutively existed fortified settlements since the end of the Cooper- stone Age and the Eneolithic Age to the Bronze age. These settlements were destroyed by conflagrations. This time period spans the end of the 5th century and the first half of the 4th century BC. The numerous artifacts from the excavations of “Kaleto” show that at the end of the Copper- stone age the settlement was flourishing as a craft center. “The sanctuary of the auroch” is one of the most significant finds since the end of the Copper-stone age. The auroch was a pagan divinity, which supports the world by his horns according to ancients. 2 500 years later at the same place where were “The sanctuary of the auroch” it was built an early Thracian sacred structure. Ancient Thracians of the “tribals” tribe lived in the area until the Ist century, when the settlement together with whole Misia was captured by the Roman Empire. The story of “Kaleto” continues in Antiquity. There was a Roman fort in the middle of the 2nd century, a pagan cult center during the 3rd century, a fortified settlement during the 4th and 5th centuries, which was developing in the late Roman and early Byzantine period. Even now you can see the basics of the pagan sanctuary, which grew into a pagan cultural center. They are located just above the prehistoric “The sanctuary of the auroch”.