Archaeologists working at the Nebet Tepe site in the Old Town of Bulgaria’s second city Plovdiv have found layers of buildings, dating back to the Roman era and possibly earlier.

The Nebet Tepe hill is among the longest-inhabited parts of Plovdiv, with settlements that have been dated back to 4000 BCE.

At a site in Dr Stoyan Chomakov Street, buildings from the first millenium BCE were found in eroded rock near the peak of Nebet Tepe in the closing days of 2018, Plovdiv news website podtepeto.com reported on January 7.

Archaeologists found remnants of buildings from all eras of Plovdiv, the report said.

The dig team headed by archaeologist Sofia Hristeva found the foundations of wooden buildings that probably had shallow cellars for storing various products. The traces of the wooden structure of the rectangular buildings were found in the eroded rock.

The team found remnants of a Roman-era building that had been very large and had multi-coloured decorations. Hristeva said that it was very likely that it had been a public building.

Above the Roman building were found traces of later inhabitation – another large late antiquity building with two entrances.

Also found were traces of buildings estimated to date from the 12th century, and two partially preserved streets.

The top layer held the remains of an Ottoman-era wall, estimated to date from the 14th to the 15th centuries.