A natural furrow additionally carved and shaped like a small rock basin, can be found approximately 1.5km southeast from the village of Oriahovo in the valley of the riverbanks. Throughout the year, it is filled with water that does not dry up even during times of drought. The liquid flows in the basin from a crack in the rock. There are reasons to believe that during antiquity, before the deforestation of the region, the natural spring was far more deep-watered.
The Ancient Thracians gave a divine notion to the springs and often turned them into sanctuaries dedicated to the water nymphs, called nympheums. The additional carvings in the basin of the vicinity of God’s Step were probably done for this purpose. It is apparent that this sanctuary was part of the huge cult burial complex on the land of the village of Oriahovo, which also includes several dolmen tombs and cult rock niches. They were used for performing rituals connected with the cult of the dead, as well as those connected with the Thracian belief in a cyclic recurrence of the permanently reviving nature.
After the acceptance of Christianity, and due to the impossibility of this new religion to suppress the deeply rooted local traditions, the old beliefs acquired new Christian meaning and explanation. They retained the old pagan sanctuaries, but they were now transformed through the looking glass of the new religion. The legends that now reside in the local population probably originated then.
The belief that the water from this spring has healing qualities is widespread among the local population. People tie red thread on the bushes around the place for health, use the water for drinking and washing, in the belief that it helps to heal diseases.
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