Sostra is an Ancient Roman fortress and road station located near the town of Lomets, 16 km away from the town of Troyan, along the major Roman road linking ancient Philipopolis (today’s Plovdiv in Southern Bulgaria) and the Roman outposts on the Lower Danube such as Ulpia Oescus (near today’s Gigen) and Novae (near today’s Shishtov) via the Troyan Pass in the Balkan Mountains (also known as Trajan’s Road, Via Trajana, or Trajan’s Balkan Road, Via Trajana Balkanica, to distinguish it from Emperor Trajan’s road on the Italian Peninsula).
Sostra’s construction started around 147 AD at the order of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius, and later it become a town with civilian population for a brief period. It became the target of barbarian invasions, and was destroyed in the 4th by the Goths, and completely destroyed by the Huns at the end of the 6th century. Sostra was excavated in 2002-2011 by Prof. Dr. Ivan Hristov from Bulgaria’s National Museum of History.
