site.btaUPDATED Kralevo Treasure Is Crowning Glory of Regional History Museum in Targovishte

The Kralevo Treasure from the collection of the Regional History Museum in Targovishte is part of the exhibits of fourteen museums from Bulgaria, which participate in an exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, USA. The exhibition is entitled Ancient Thrace and the Classical World. Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, and includes over 150 objects.

The Kralevo Treasure was discovered in the village of Kralevo, Targovishte Region, by archaeologist Georgi Ginev in 1979 during rescue excavations of a Thracian mound necropolis. The Treasure consists of grave goods - decorative equestrian equipment, jewellery - rings and bracelets, weighing 214 grams in total.

More about how luck smiled on archaeologist Georgi Ginev, what the Kralevo Treasure is in detail, interesting facts surrounding its discovery and return to the museum showcase in Targovishte says in an interview for BTA the director of the Regional History Museum Magdalena Zhecheva.

Luck smiled on the archaeologist Georgi Ginev in 1979

The Kralevo Treasure is associated with the name of a deeply respected archaeologist colleague of ours - Georgi Ginev, who in 1979 made rescue excavations of a Thracian mound necropolis in the village of Kralevo, said Zhecheva. And as very often happens on the last day of excavations in the third mound under study - a grave, a masonry grave with an amphora, a hydria - a funerary urn, where the man was buried, came out. And suddenly something flashes and it turns out to be gold objects: decorations of horse ammunition - the horse's reins. The horse, as a special animal in the life of the Thracians, was buried together with its owner. Apart from these golden appliqués, which decorated the horse's head, there are also jewellery - rings, bracelets. The first assumption is that it was some woman from an aristocratic family. The director of the cultural institution added that subsequently Ginev developed his interpretation and today we know, based on his research, that this is the grave of a Thracian chieftain or aristocrat who was not a random person. Because the workmanship of the objects and the appliqués and the ornaments lead to master workshops in old Mesemvria (today Nessebar). For a very long time this was the only type of treasure so beautiful and unique among the discoveries in Bulgaria. In recent years others have appeared, but for its time it was an impressive discovery.

Zhecheva explained that what happened was not an accident. It is because this is an area where a Thracian tribe lived, as there is a Thracian fortress and several mounds nearby. It is a special place for the people who lived there. In the past, Konstantin Jieček, who passed through our lands, Zhecheva noted, did not mention the mounds, but spoke about the fact that the local people told him that there was a horseman like near Madara. Unfortunately, this remains only a record by Jireček and we have no data so far. But the place is definitely special, Magdalena Zhecheva is adamant.

The Kralevo Treasure comprises grave goods weighing a total of 214 gramme

Among them are two gold earrings with snake heads. Bracelets-spirals, which are silver, but are gilded. The most valuable is the decoration of the horse's ammunition. It contains two appliqués that depict a griffin. Four appliqués that depict Heracles. One headdress with an eagle's head. One very beautiful rosette. Some of these artifacts are encrusted with glass colored paste, which has faded in places over time, the museum director explained. There are 36 small appliqués, which specialists call "beetles" because of the visual similarity. They are strikingly beautiful, crafted in detail and have been placed along the entire length of the ammunition. One cylindrical applique and one ring, which are basically just gold. The total weight of the treasure is 214 grammes.

In addition, there is something that is not gold, but it travels with the treasure - the axe-scepter - the symbol of power. According to the specialist, it also indicates that there is buried not a casual person, but a person of high social status or a person from the family of the tribe leader.

Zhecheva pointed out that already when they found the treasure in Targovishte it became very famous. The story is interesting because they had to spend the night with archaeologist Ginev and three of the brigadier-students. Graduates of local schools participated in the excavation. They were left in the field to protect the treasure.

Within the next week, the Kralevo Treasure was presented in the museum and in the city on display - without any special security. In the meantime, preparations are underway for the major national exhibitions celebrating the 1300th anniversary of the Bulgarian state and, as is well known, these include Bulgaria's most significant and valuable treasures, Zhecheva recalled. Since then, i.e. immediately after its discovery, the Kralevo Treasure entered as part of the national treasury of Bulgaria.

It has travelled a lot - it has been in big cities in Europe, in Japan, in Mexico, in America and now there again. The philosophy behind the establishment of the National History Museum is to bring together and present these great, representative treasures of Bulgaria. And for this reason the treasure is not coming back to Targovishte. It remains as part of the exposition, although it is kept in the inventory books and the collection of the Targovishte District Historical Museum. Until 2012 the treasure was actually in the National History Museum. Since April 2012 the treasure has been in the National Treasury. The Royal Treasure has returned to Targovishte and is part of the Archaeological Exposition. We are proud of it, it contributes to increasing interest in the museum and our city. Because this type of discovery is something that has never happened before - we have many valuable objects in the collection, we have many historical periods that are well researched and presented with valuable evidence from different times. But the treasure from Kralevo remains the highlight of the museum's treasury, says Zhecheva.

Georgi Ginev is the man who has contributed with his professionalism and his luck of discovery to enrich the museum

At the discovery of the Kralevo Treasure, Georgi Ginev had already gained experience as an archaeologist. He knew well the then Targovishte region. But in fact, in his professional career he studied a lot of Thracian burial mounds. This is his most extensive discovery. Subsequently, he explored mounds near the village of Bojurka in Targovishte, near the village of Vrani Kon in Omurtag.

Zhecheva recalled a story with the Thracian Tomb of Sveshtar, which is called Ginina Mound. It was first proposed to be studied by Georgi Ginev. It even had an open list. But he was exploring another site at the time, was on an excavation and refused. Actually, despite everything, he was lucky - because the Sveshtari tomb turned out to be extremely interesting and rich on a global level.

Georgi Ginev is the person who contributed with his luck of a discoverer and of course with his professionalism to enrich our museum with many different testimonies from the time of Antiquity, Zhecheva is adamant. He is the man we respect deeply, unfortunately - he is already deceased. And we are glad that, as a result of the interest in his discoveries, we are also keeping his memory alive.

Exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles

This exhibition has been a long time in the making - more than two years. The invitation came from the director of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. They are the main institution driving the organization of the exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The Kralevo Treasure has not traveled in a very long time, and we would be happy to have it again among treasures of similar magnitude, said Zhecheva.

The treasure has been in Sofia for two months. There, preparations are underway to display it in the best possible exhibition form.

There is already interest from Bulgarians who live in America and who are from Targovishte. Georgi Ginev's daughter lives in San Francisco and is interested, she will probably go to see it.

The Regional Historical Museum in Targovishte has more than 70 years of history

The Regional Historical Museum in Targovishte is a general historical museum that has existed for over 70 years. The decision for its establishment dates back to 1951. The first director of the museum was renowned prof. Dimitar Ovcharov, who came with his wife. By 1960 he had already put the museum on a professional basis and developed it. Today the museum has all possible study periods - a professional structure that includes the study of the period from prehistory to modern times. Together with this we have the "Funds" department, the "Scientific Archive" department. We have a very rich collection gathered over these years - more than 45,000 core collection, which is represented in several museum sites. We manage eight museum buildings, which are monuments of culture or, in today's terminology, immovable cultural property, the director explained. Two of them are of national importance. These are the famous Slaveikovo School or St. Sedmochislenitsi from 1863 and Hadzhiangel's house, where our ethnographic exposition is presented, which also dates back to 1863.

Currently our guests and visitors can see the Archaeological Exposition of Targovishte, located in the Hadzhi Rusi School. All museum objects are located nearby and can be visited in a relatively short time, she says.  We have turned the Slaveikovo School into a museum exhibition centre, where we annually present between 12-15 temporary exhibitions from our collection and visiting exhibitions from all over the country. The ethnographic exhibition is in the house of a great old merchant, Hadzhi Angel. It is highly interesting, and has been impressive since its creation in 1863. We also present one of our famous fellow citizens - Nikola Simov - Kuroto, the flag bearer of the Botev's cheta, and his life, his personality, his work in the house-museum Nikola Simov.

Quite close to these sites is the Sveshtarov House - a home where many military figures, commanders, generals, colonels grew up - simply the family was like that. Our museum educational centre and an interesting exposition "Icons and Church Utensils", which presents the history of the Targovishte spiritual district, are located in this house.

The museum welcomes about 20,000 visitors every year, who are guests of the town or passing through. Part of our research and main task and priority site is the fortress of Misionis. This is a late antique and medieval city of Misionis, which has recently been granted by decision of the Council of Ministers to the Municipality of Targovishte, with a tendency to continue its exploration and socialization. And there we welcome visitors and present the history of the original city of Targovishte.

Targovishte - an old fair centre

Targovishte is an old fair centre. One of the two largest fairs in the Ottoman Empire on the Balkans, the Eskidzhumayski Fair, was held here and blossomed in the middle of the 19th century, although it existed before that, says Magdalena Zhecheva. In fact, the town developed thanks to this commercial centre and established itself as an extremely popular market place far beyond the borders of the Ottoman Empire. Subsequently, it has been a phenomenon of its own, since there are few fairs and markets of this type that survive and exist, even though they now have a different form, now an exhibition, in accordance with the times. But inevitably everything that happens in the town is connected with the fair, whether it be the building of the church and the school, whether it be the blossoming of the various trading and artisan families who are the skeleton of society in the town and it is the people who build up the social and political life here and develop it. Even the museum buildings that we are presenting are linked to the fair life of Targovishte.