The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak and the sanctuaries in the Valley of the Thracian Kings near Kazanlak have become one of the first sites included in the Atlas of Immovable Cultural Assets in Bulgaria, the local administration in Kazanlak said in a statement.

The administration added that the atlas is available on the National Institute for Immovable Cultural Heritage (NIICH) website.

The atlas has included all Bulgarian sites on the World Heritage List and the Register of Archaeological Reserves, as well as between 10 and 15 per cent of the monuments for which boundaries and prescriptions for protection have been set under the Cultural Heritage Act, the administration said.

The objects, the administration added, are marked with solid red dots.

Some other objects are also entered into the database, but only with their coordinates and information about their status.

The NIICH team has created the atlas, and it will be updated with more sites and areas over the coming months.

The municipality of Kazanlak also said the digital map is one of the effective tools for wide access to information, tracking trends, and protecting immovable cultural heritage, which citizens and local and central authorities can use.

On February 8, the council of ministers allowed the municipality of Kazanlak to manage three of the Thracian mound sanctuaries in the region free of charge for another ten years.

The decision includes not only the property located in the town of Shipka, Kazanlak Municipality, representing a built-up land with an area of over 46,000 square metres but also the immovable cultural assets located in it – the Thracian sanctuaries of Shushmanets, Helvetia and Griffoni, as well as the constructed building with an area of 100 square metres.

(BTA/NAN)