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

The Kralevo Treasure from the collection of the Regional Historical Museum in Targovishte is part of exhibits from fourteen Bulgarian museum, which are displayed in an exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, USA.

Fourteen museums from Bulgaria with a total of over 150 artefacts will participate in an exhibition, entitled "Ancient Thrace and the Ancient World. Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania and Greece" at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Bulgarian artefacts account for over 90% of all exhibits on display. The exhibition will be on from November 3 to March 3 2025.

The Kralevo Treasure was discovered near the northeastern village of the same name by archaeologist Georgi Ginev in 1979 during rescue excavations of a Thracian mound necropolis. It represents burial gifts - horse trappings, jewelry - rings and bracelets, weighing 214 grams in total. It is dated from the first half of the 3rd century B.C. Among the finds is an axe-sceptre - a symbol of power, which is not made of gold, but indicates that a person of high social status was buried there. 

After its discovery, the treasure was displayed in the museum in Targovishte and in a showcase in the city centre without special protection. Immediately afterwards it became part of national exhibitions that included the most significant and valuable treasures of Bulgaria, arranged on the occasion of the 1300th anniversary of the Bulgarian state. The Kralevo Treasure is part of Bulgaria’s national treasury.

Throughout the years, it has travelled around the world, becoming part of the collection of the National History Museum as one of the treasures of Bulgaria and never returning to Targovishte. Until 2022, the treasure was kept in the National Museum of History, and since April of the same year it returned to Targovishte as part of the archaeological exhibition. 

The golden treasure from the village of Kralevo is the crowning glory of the museum in the regional city. 

Magdalena Zhecheva, head of Regional History Museum in Targovishte, recounts more about how luck smiled on archaeologist Georgi Ginev, details about the Kralevo treasure, and interesting stories around its discovery and return to the local museum.