The Mother Goddess Temple- Cybela in Balchik is the only Hellenic temple descovered and preserved not only in Bulgaria but in the Balkans. The ancient temple of “Pontic Mother of the gods – Cybele” was opened in April 2007, during the the construction activities on private property in the coastal zone.
In April 2007, during some works in Balchik, the excavator falls on a rectangular building of ancient times. Excavations reveal the best preserved temple of Cybele so far – Great Mother of the Gods. The building has an areaof 93,5 mp and refers to the period between 280-260 BC.
Temple was destroyed several times. It was burned in 378, along with dozens of other places in Moesia and Scythia, plundered by the Goths, who two years earlier were established in these regions as Roman federation. This is confirmed by the latest coins discovered under a layer of coals and broken tiles in the nave. Over them were found portraits of emperors Valentinian I (364-375) and Valens (364-378). After this rout the Temple was not rebuilt. In th Vth or VIth century a significant part of the building is broken down to the level it has been preserved until today. In 544-545, the temple was hit by a wave and buried by the earth that slipped from the north east. The natural disaster hermetically sealed the temple and like the ancient Pompei it wa also preserved until today.