Jewelry from Times of Ancient Serdica Discovered during National Academy of Art Renovation

BTA intern Sara Behar, Dahnyelle Dymytrov

BTA Photo/Blagoy Kirilov

Sofia,

21.08.2025 19:17

(BTA)

“The jewelry we found will add to the picture of life in ancient Serdica,” Elena Nikolova from the Regional History Museum in Sofia (RHM) told BTA reporter Dahnyelle Dymytrov. Serdica was the historical Roman city located in present-day Sofia. Nikolova leads the archaeological excavations, carried out in parallel with the renovation of the north wing of the National Academy of Art (NAA) building.

“For us, this is a pleasant, though not unexpected, surprise. We assumed that most of the burials would be without additional grave artefacts. The current discoveries will help us provide a more precise dating of the burial sites we are still discovering,” Nikolova added.

She claimed that the jewelry belonged to a woman: “This is a typical part of everyday life. Women wore this type of adornment, together with the small glass beads that were placed as grave offerings. These, too, were part of the customary inventory deposited in the graves of the deceased.” Nikolova also noted that the newly unearthed jewelry has yet to be dated and was probably possessed by a woman of higher social standing.

A parallel between those adornments and similar pieces of jewelry found in graves from the same necropolis, located around the St Sophia Church in central Sofia, will be established, said Nikolova. Some of those artefacts are subject to restoration, while others are kept in the RHM’s collection.

Thirteen graves from the ancient period have been identified since the beginning of the excavations at the NAA. Soil structure affects the deeper graves, and in most cases the bones are poorly preserved and only leave imprints, explained Nikolova. She added that the shallower graves are in better condition and more preserved. The archaeologists assume that the exploration of the other NAA rooms, where graves are already becoming visible, will also reveal similar burials containing grave goods.

The renovations of the north wing of the NAA began on June 17 of this year. The reconstruction project was commissioned on November 19, 2008, and approved in 2012.

This was the first building owned by the NAA, built in 1905. The building stands on part of the eastern necropolis of ancient Serdica, which stretches from the St Sophia Church towards Park.

/MY/