The story of Aquae Calidae

Warm water rising from the ground made this place famous for thousands of years. The hot springs were already used in the Neolithic, and the Thracians later built a sanctuary of the Three Nymphs around the spring. The Romans called the town Aquae Calidae, Latin for warm waters.

Legend says Philip II of Macedon was a frequent guest, and the over 4,000 coins found in the pools came from all over Europe. Around 580 the Eastern Roman emperor Tiberius II Constantine sent his wife Anastasia here to be cured. When she recovered, she gave her imperial robes to the local church.

In 584 the Avars under Khan Baian took the town, spared the baths at the request of his harem, and carried the robes away. In 1206 crusaders burned the city, then called Thermopolis, and their commander Geoffrey of Villehardouin wrote that its warm springs were the best in the whole world. Since 2008 the baths and walls have been coming back to light.