Augusta National Archeological Preserved Area

The Late-Antique and Early-Byzantine castle Augusta raises just 6 km western from the town of Mizia (northwestern Danube River Valley), situated in the Kaleto district, Kozloduy Municipality. Kaleto is a district offering favorable natural and geographical conditions of life and protection. It is located at the left riverbank of Ogosta River. The area that the fortified walls spread on now is about 8 ha. The first archeological excavations in Augusta were held in the period 1973-1990. In 2005 they were restored by the National Museum of History with the active cooperation of the Kozloduy Municipality. The archeologists found that based on the camp Ala Augusta, yet in the 2nd century the town center Augusta progressed here. In its almost six-century long history Augusta was often attacked, ruined down and raised again. The last destruction is dated to the year 582, after a number of Avar invasions. In the 7th century a Slav settlement was established over the ruins of the destroyed town. The earliest remains here are dated to the end of the Bronze Ages. Two graves were found, where the funerals were done through burning the dead bodies and the ashes of the dead man was placed into an urn. Augusta was declared an archeological monument of culture. In 1984 it was declared an archeological preserved area under the name Antique Fortress Augusta in the Kaleto district near the village of Harlets, Vratsa region.