After abandoning visits to 4 WHSs and wasting 4 full days in north-eastern Bulgaria due to winter closure and massive snow, I was able to visit only one new WHS in Bulgaria during this trip: the Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, which is open year-around no matter what.

But there were at least two surprises.

The first was that the interior of the real tomb has not been accessible for the general public since 2013, and the only option was to visit a replica of the tomb they created recently for a few Euros. Remembering how meticulously the replica of the Lascaux Cave was created (Lascaux ll) in France , I went with that option.  After all, Kazanlak was inscribed in the same year as Lascaux (and Pyramids of Egypt and Grand Canyon). 

The second and bigger surprise came after I paid a few Euros. After the fiasco in north-eastern Bulgaria, I had a somewhat high expectation for this site, particularly with the replica of Lascaux in my mind. When I walked through a narrow entrance hall to the small round tomb, however, I was stunned that there were no further rooms to explore. This is what I waited for 4 days??? Is this a life-size replica or a miniature-size replica, if such a thing is possible?

The space was like a dome with the floor diameter of 3 meters and the height of also 3 meters. The ceiling did have some intricate frescoes, as you can see in the photo.

I conceded later that this site was about just ONE tomb, unlike the Aigai WHS in Greece with many tombs or the Tarquina WHS in Italy that is a necropolis (tomb city).

Today, only one tomb is inscribed as a WHS. But this tomb is actually one of the many royal tombs around Kazanlak, and indeed the whole thing is in nomination as "The royal necropolis of the Thracian city of Seuthopolis – a serial site, extension of the Kazanlak Thracian tomb."

So until the nominated extension is approved, remember it's only one small tomb!