the 20th century since when the site has suffered at the hands of numerous treasure hunters. No formal archaeological excavations were conducted until 2004. Two periods of occupation have been identified from the archaeological evidence: 13th century BC – 5th century BC: the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, but also the Dark Ages in the Aegean and Anatolia. At this time, the hill had no floral and soil cover. The archaeological finds from the period are fireplaces, which served as altars for various fire-related rituals. 4th century BC – 3rd century BC: the Late Iron Age or the period of Classics and Hellenism. In this period, the region of the Eastern Mediterranean had its cultural consolidation provoked by the military campaigns of the Macedonian rulers Philip II and Alexander the Great. This was also the period of the most active utilization of the sanctuary. Four churches were discovered by archaeological excavations near the village of Iskra. The oldest documented reference to the city of Parvomay is from 1576 in the register of Ottoman taxes in Bulgaria. In 1671 the Turkish travel writer Evliya Celebi mentions the village of Iskra to the south. Parvomay was for a time part of Eastern Rumelia, an autonomous province within the Ottoman Empire after the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the revolution of September 6, 1885, the province was annexed by the Principality of Bulgaria. On 14 April 1928, a sequence of two earthquakes with a magnitude of approximately 7 in central Bulgaria destroyed 74,000 buildings and killed 114 people in the nearby cities of Plovdiv, Chirpan (to the north) and Parvomay. A newspaper at the time reported that 1000 buildings in Parvomay collapsed. Civic and educational buildings Parvomay's post office opened in 1881, its first hospital opened with one doctor and 10 hospital beds in 1882, and its first doctors clinic in 1886. Parvomay's hospital is located just to the southwest of the town centre and there is also a sizable medical centre just to the north of the centre. The St. Cyril and Methodius Community Center is located in a parkland in the centre of the Town. Following the 1928 earthquake that destroyed many buildings including the courthouse, a fund was set up to construct a new building. A small building constructed in the centre of Parvomay in 1932 has jurisdiction over Parvomay Municipality. There are two high schools in