Athens, October 1, 2026
Photo: lionnews.gr
Dozens of ecclesiastical treasures carried off to Sofia during World War I are heading back to Greece after more than a century, under an agreement signed by the Greek and Bulgarian Ministers of Culture this week.
The items come from the Panagia Eikosifoinissa Monastery, the Monastery of the Honorable Forerunner in Serres, and the Metropolis of Serres and Nigrita. They were taken to Sofia in 1917, and were displayed or stored at Bulgaria’s National Museum of History.
Greek Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni and her Bulgarian counterpart, Evtim Miloshev, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the mutual return of objects of historical value to both countries. The Greek Ministry of Culture called it “an agreement of historic significance” that it had worked on systematically, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency.
In turn, Greece will hand over remains found in the Basilica of St. Achillius in 1965, identified as belonging to Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria, who ruled from 997 to 1014. Greece will also return other anthropological material found in the basilica’s four sarcophagi. The remains have been kept in recent years at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki.
Both sides agreed to keep negotiating over other historical objects of mutual interest that the memorandum doesn’t cover. The protocols will be signed at the Museum of Byzantine Culture on Saturday, October 3, in the presence of Prime Ministers Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Rumen Radev.
The Holy Synod of the Church of Greece welcomed the agreement “with particular satisfaction.” It says the treasures were stolen by Bulgarians during World War I and are returning after years of difficult negotiations. The Synod expressed hope that the memorandum is only a good beginning and that further agreements will follow for other treasures taken from churches and monasteries in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace.
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