Prof. Nikolay Ovcharov described the “discovery of the year” as an accidental find of a businessman who came across proof in his court that Bulgaria probably had a coat of arms during the reign of Tsar Ivan Shishman.
An accidentally discovered plate with a hole for hanging shows that our country probably had a coat of arms in the time of Shishman. Prof. Ovcharov clarified that on the plate, which has an approximately triangular shape, a coat of arms with three lions is depicted, but it still cannot be called Bulgarian, because there are other variants.
According to the top archaeologist, the find is extremely valuable and will help us look at a dynamic period in the history of our country, which is poorly lit. “We can say with a very high degree of certainty that the found plate is related to the last days of Shishman’s kingdom,” the scientist believes.
The plate, which was processed by specialists from the museum in Kardzhali, depicts three lions, similar to the English ones. They are also present on coins from the time of Shishman, as well as as the coat of arms of the kingdom in the chronicle of an unknown Arab traveler who visited Tarnovgrad at that time.
The find was discovered about 30 kilometers south of Varna between the villages of Ravna Gora and Bliznatsi. It was found during the transplanting of trees in a private orchard by the chairman of the Supreme Board of the Association of Bulgarians around the world Mladen Stanev.
Prof. Ovcharov pointed out that historians do not have data that Englishmen passed through the area where the plate was discovered.
“I was shocked when I saw her,” Prof. Ovcharov told BNR. “I immediately recognized the state coat of arms of Bulgaria from the time of Tsar Shishman with the three lions! through Tarnovo in the second half of the 14th century, “the archaeologist said. He believes that the bronze jewelry with the state coat of arms was worn by a warrior, “a high-ranking Bulgarian nobleman, a royal man” as a sign of his high rank.
More research on the historical find is still pending, but as of today, on the eve of Independence Day, it is already on display at the Regional History Museum.
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