Pautalia

Pautalia is one of the great ancient cities of Thrace, now located in Kyustendil [1]. It was a settlement of the Dentheletae, a Thracian tribe, and had been occupied since at least the Iron Age [1]. It is noted for its temple of Asclepius on the hill of Hissarlaka [1]. The name is Thracian and means "spring city", referring to the hot springs there [1]. The earliest preserved mention of the city is in a list of 135 Roman Municipia in Thrace from 106 C.E. which list included the settlements on the site of today's Sofia, Plovdiv and Stara Zagora [1]. In the 2nd century, the first fortress wall was built in the time of the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus [1]. In late antiquity, a fortress was built on the hill south of the city, Hissarlaka [1]. This second fortification was built in the second half of the 4th century and underwent several repairs and reconstructions over the next 5th and 6th centuries [1].