48 ecclesiastical relics from Bulgaria return to Greece – Historical agreement signedtranslated

48 relics are returned to Greece from the Holy Monastery of Panagia Eikosiophytis, the Holy Monastery of Timios Prodromos Serron, and the Holy Metropolitanate of Serron and Nigeritis, which were transferred to Sofia in 1917 during World War I and were either exhibited or preserved at the National History Museum of Bulgaria. Today, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Greek Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, and Evtim Miloshev from Bulgaria, for the mutual "deposit" of historically valuable relics for both countries. "This is a historical agreement on which the Ministry of Culture has worked systematically," states the relevant press release.

On the Bulgarian side, Greece will return to Bulgaria the remains found in 1965 at the Royal Monastery of Saint Achilles by Professor Nikos Moutsopoulos and identified as belonging to Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria (997-1014), along with other anthropological material discovered in the four sarcophagi within the Royal Monastery. These remains have been kept in the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki in recent years.

Both sides agreed on the...