Greece and Bulgaria to exchange Tsar Samuel’s remains for historic Orthodox religious treasures

Greece is preparing to transfer the remains of Tsar Samuel to Bulgaria as part of a historic agreement under which valuable Orthodox religious treasures removed from Greek monasteries during World War I will be returned to Greece, according to a report by the Greek newspaper Kathimerini .

The remains of Tsar Samuel, discovered in 1965 by Professor Nikolaos Moutsopoulos at the Basilica of Saint Achilleios in Prespa, are currently housed at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki. Under the proposed arrangement, they will be transferred to Sofia.

In exchange, Bulgaria will return valuable ecclesiastical treasures taken from two historic Greek Orthodox monasteries: the Monastery of Panagia Eikosifoinissa on Mount Pangaion and the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist near Serres.

The religious treasures were removed during World War I, and their return represents a significant development in efforts to recover ecclesiastical heritage.

According to Kathimerini, negotiations between Greece and Bulgaria have been taking place behind the scenes for more than a decade.

The proposed exchange would mark an important development in the preservation and restitution of…