Articles from category: Treasures from bulgariainside.com

Letnitsa Treasure

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:49:00 +0300

In 1963, workers from a local farm in the little north town of Letnitsa started the construction of a new cattle-shed. While digging they came upon a container full of small artifacts. They split the treasures and kept in secret the discovery. A local doctor witnessed the unearthing and informed the history museum of the nearby town of Lovech. The treasure was put back together and placed in the museum. The Letnitsa treasure is a small one but its historical significance is enormous. It consists of a bronze container full of little silver artifacts, some of which featuring gold decorations. Parts of a horse-trapping were found near the container. One of the most amazing items found is several little plates decorated with historic scenes. The protagonist rides a horse or hunts, fights bears and wolves, throws his spear in the company of his servant. These images show much about...

Borovo Treasure

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:27:00 +0200

An ancient Thracian treasure was found in 1974 near the little town of Borovo in Rousse district. It dates back to the 4th century BC. Archeologists believe it belonged to king Kotis, the ruler of the Thracian tribe of Odrisi. Some of the containers from the treasure carry the name of the king. The treasure is made of five silver containers with golden decorations, three rhytons with their bottoms shaped as the heads of a bull, a horse and a sphinx; a jug-rhyton decorated with a divinity feast scene /some of the decoration elements are made of gold/; a big silver bowl with gold on the rim and around the handles. All artifacts were made in the town of Beos, southeastern Thrace on the coast of Sea of Marmora.. Now the treasure is kept in the history Rousse museum.

Izvorovo Golden Treasure

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:53:00 +0200

During their work near the village of Izvorovo in the summer of 2008, archaeologists discovered a golden treasure dating back to the Bronze Age. Izvorovo is situated in the southern Sakar region and scientists were working on a mound of diameter 31 m and height of 2.9 m. One of the discovered artifacts is an impressive golden necklace made of 320 spherical and elongated beads. Its length is 1.5 meters. Other artifacts include spherical objects having solar decorations, golden and silver plates, a silver ring and a bronze knife. A similar necklace has been discovered only on Crete but was made of 24 beads. Archaeologist Borislav Borislavov, leader of the team, said that the grave where the artifacts were found probably belonged to a noble person or a priest. The skillfulness used in artifact creation resulted from the fact that a major trade route connecting Central Europe to...

Rogozen Treasure

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:04:00 +0200

A precious treasure was unearthed in 1985 in a vegetable garden in the village of Rogozen, Vratsa region. Additional research in the area enabled archaeologists to discover more artifacts. The treasure now consists of 165 containers, all made of silver, 131 of them with golden decorations. This is the biggest treasure ever found in Bulgaria. Inscriptions on some of the items show they belonged to a Thracian king. Historians believe they have found one almost complete royal set that was hidden in the ground. Decorations on the containers represent scenes from the Greek and Thracian mythology. The total weight of the set is over 19 kg. Some inscriptions signify the items were part of a gift. The treasure dates back to the 5th and 4th centuries BC and can be seen in Sofia’s National Museum of History.

Vulchitrun Treasure

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:20:00 +0200

The Vulchitrun treasure is the biggest golden treasure ever found in Bulgaria. It was discovered during farm works in 1925 in the village of Vulchitrun near Pleven. It consists of 13 objects with total weight of 12.5 kg. Work on all artifacts show fineness and quality. Seven items have the shape of lids, four are big cups with curved handles, one triple container made of three oblong smaller containers and one more article with interesting shape. Historians think that more objects made up the entire treasure but some were probably stolen or hidden. The treasure dates back to the 9th or 8th centuries BC., which makes it one of the oldest treasures discovered in the country. Now the treasure from Vulchitrun can be seen in the National Museum of Archaeology in Sofia.

Varna Treasure

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:09:00 +0200

During 1972 construction works in Golden Sands resort, workers came upon a necropolis hill with more than 80 graves. Over six kg of gold were collected from all the graves. Some of the graves were more than 4000 years old. Nine hundred golden artifacts with total weight of over 1.5 kg were found in a single grave. The decoration and the fine objects show that this was the grave of a king or a priest. Until present, this is the biggest treasure ever found in a necropolis in Europe. All the objects were made with mastership and style. Pottery, copper, bronze adornments and shell ornaments were discovered alongside the gold objects. Now the treasure is kept in the Museum of Archeology in Varna.

Panagyurishte Treasure

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:02:00 +0200

In the cold morning of December 81949, brothers Pavel, Petko and Mihail worked together in the yard of the roof-tile factory in the town of Panagyurishte. While digging, one of them noticed something glossy in the soil. This was the glimmer of the nine containers from the Panagyurishte treasure. They are made of pure gold and their total weight is a little over six kg. The biggest container is an amphora – rhyton. Seven smaller rythons, three of which in the shape of animal heads, and three with the shape of Amazons also make up the treasure. The seventh smaller rhyton is similar to a purse in the shape of a goat. The final container is a vial. There is an inscription on the vial saying that it was made in the city of Lapsakos at the The treasure dates back to the 3rd century BC and features rich gold decoration representing Greek mythological scenes. Dishes were...

Mogilanska Mound Treasure

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:54:00 +0200

In 1965, a private yard in the town of Vratza became the site where two graves were discovered. One of them was already robbed, probably in the ancient times. Two bodies were found in one of the graves, male and female. Other findings included some silver and bronze containers, various weapons and a hearse. Historians believe that the grave belonged to a Thracian princess from the Triballi tribe. A golden tiara, golden earrings, a silver knee-piece with a golden female face printed on it, an amphora with the shape of cone, a golden decorated jug and a vial featuring a golden female head with gorgeous hair dress are some of the other findings. The treasure dates back to the 4th century BC and is kept at the National Museum of History in Sofia.

Loukovit Treasure

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:52:00 +0200

The little town of Loukovit, close to the town of Lovech, is the site where a Thracian treasure was found accidentally in 1953. Two more discoveries followed in 1955 and 1986. The entire treasure consists of 15 silver containers, 23 applications, horseride equipment and more than 200 silver loops, semispherical buttons, narrow pipes and little applications featuring human and animal images. Most of the applications were decorated with the images of horsemen pursuing lions and fighting animals. Archeologists think the lion symbolized royalty. These little plates were used for popularizing the divinity of the current ruler. People learned about the ruler’s bravery and achievement and complied. The treasure dates back to the 4th century BC. Now it can be seen in the National Museum of Archeology in Sofia.

Douvanlii Treasure

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:47:00 +0200

In 1925, during some farm works a necropolis hill was discovered near the village of Douvanlii, in the Plovdiv area. The treasure found in the tomb dates back to the 5th century BC. One part of it was moved to the Plovdiv Museum of Archeology and the other part relocated to the Sofia Museum of Archeology. Soon after the discovery, nearby hills underwent exploration as well. A grave from the 5th century BC was found in one of the hills. Archeologists found there a fine gold necklace. Expensive objects like golden breastplate and a noble’s cup were discovered in another hill.

Boukiovtsi Treasure

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:45:00 +0200

The treasure found in the village of Boukiovtsi is now kept in the National Museum of Archeology in Sofia. It was discovered in 1929. The treasure has several items, among which a little silver jug, two silver phials, a silver ornament with golden decoration, a silver gobele (cup) also featuring gold decorations, a forehead ornament in the shape of a falcon, applications of two intertwined lotus flowers. It dates back to the end of the 5th century BC. The gobele is very interesting with its horizontal fluting and the golden belt at the bottom. The forehead ornament appears to be one of the earliest stylized falcon images.