STORY: :: Bulgarian archaeologists find a marble statue
depicting Greek god Hermes in an ancient Roman sewer
:: July 5, 2024
:: Rupite, Bulgaria
:: Lyudmil Vagalinski, Archaeologist
"We had the chance to come across it and I am even more glad that its head is preserved. Very good condition. There are a few fractures on the hands because they got damaged in an earthquake that happened in the 4th century. After that, (the people living in the area), who were still pagans, hid it with a lot of respect literally in the great canal of the city of Cloaca Maxima, which is no longer functioning. They buried it with soil on top."
The discovery of the 6.8-foot (2-meter) tall statue was made during excavation work at the site of the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica in southwestern Bulgaria, which lies close to the Greek border.
Archaeologists leading the work said that after an earthquake devastated the sprawling city in about A.D. 388, the statue had been carefully placed in the sewers and covered with soil, explaining its good condition.
