The presence of the Thracians in the Kyustendil Valley dates back to the end of the Bronze Age (the second half of the third millennium BC). The region is inhabited by the Thracian tribes of pennies, agrarians, detellets and others. By the name of the largest of them, the whole area is called Dentelek. In the V-IV century BC, attracted by the healing mineral springs of the Thracians founded a settlement.
After the fall of Thrace under Roman rule (45 AD), the Romans turned the settlement into an important shopping center and a famous balneological resort called Pautalia (Pautalia). Pautalia is a city of intense life and is an administrative, business and cultural center of vast territory. During the time of Emperor Mark Ulliy Traian (98-117) in 106 AD. Pautalia receives urban rights and adds to her name the prefix "Ulpia" (Ulpia Pautalia). During the period of Emperor Antonin Pee (138-161) to the Emperor Karakala (198-217), the town has been owning its own coins, a rich source of information on urban life.
After the Milanic Edict of 313, Pautalia became an episcopal center, and its city territory - a diocese of the Paultai Bishopric.
In the 4th century, after the rampage of barbarian tribes, the fortress of Hissarluka, rebuilt during the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527-565), was built until the 15th century. It is not known whether the city was conquered by Goths, Avars, Visigoths or Slavs. After 553, the name Pautalia did not meet.
