site.btaExhibition in Varna Presents Oldest Document in Bulgarian Archives

A palimpsest dated 1351 is the oldest document kept in the Bulgarian archives and it was presented on Friday in Varna on the occasion of the holiday of Bulgarian archivists, said Donka Nikolova, head of the State Archives in the seaside city.

The donation was made in August 2025 and accepted by State Archives Agency Chair Mihail Gruev. A palimpsest is an ancient manuscript, the original text of which has been removed by rubbing or washing, after which the page has been used for a new text, Nikolova noted. She pointed out that the palimpsest in Varna is in Latin and was translated by Sofia University lecturer Prof. Alexander Nikolov.

It has no connection with Bulgarian history, but is a financial document of a private nature. The donor, Toni Hadzhiev, is the heir to a large family consisting mainly of notaries and diplomats, the first representatives of which can be traced back to the 11th century. The assumption is that the document belonged to some of Hadzhiev's ancestors, who signed the document in Marseille, after which it reached Constantinople.

The palimpsest will be exhibited in the building of the State Archives in Varna, after which it will be stored in appropriate conditions, Nikolova specified, adding that the original text and the translation will be available on the Internet, as the parchment itself will be digitized.

Nikolova emphasized that this is not the first donation by the family to the State Archives in Varna, as Paul Duroni, the grandfather of Toni Hadzhiev, who was the last Spanish consul in the city, provided a large fund to the State Archives, containing documents mainly of Auguste Castagne, who held the post of French ambassador in Constantinople. "Our family has lived in Varna for five generations and our entire family archive is here. My grandfather made a similar donation in the 1970s and I consider this a commitment on my part," Hadzhiev stated.