Bulgarian archaeologists stumbled upon unexpected treasure during a dig in an ancient Roman sewer — a well-preserved, marble statue depicting the Greek god Hermes.

The discovery of the 2-meter (6.8 foot) tall statue was made during excavation work at the site of the ancient city of Heraclea Sintica in southwestern Bulgaria, which lies close to the Greek border.

Archaeologists leading the work said that after an earthquake devastated the sprawling city in about A.D. 388, the statue had been carefully placed in the sewers and covered with soil, explaining its good condition.

Lyudmil Vagalinski, who led the team of archaeologists, said that the statue was a Roman copy of an ancient Greek original.

Heraclea Sintica was a sprawling city founded by the ancient Macedonian king Philip II of Macedon, between 356 B.C. and 339 B.C. in what is now the Bulgarian region of Pirin Macedonia.

Archaeologists say that the people of the Heraclea Sintica likely attempted to preserve the statue, even after Christianity was adopted as the official religion in the Roman Empire.

After the earthquake, the Heraclea Sintica fell into a rapid decline and was abandoned by around A.D. 500.

Subscribe to the ABS-CBN News channel! – http://bit.ly/TheABSCBNNews

Watch full episodes on iWantTFC for FREE here:
http://iwanttfc.com

Visit our website at http://news.abs-cbn.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abscbnNEWS
Twitter: https://twitter.com/abscbnnews
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abscbnnews

Take the opportunity to connect and share this video with your friends and family if you find it useful.