Bulgaria to Repatriate Remains of Medieval Tsar Samuil From Greece
Jerusalem, 29 September, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- Sofia (BTA) – Bulgaria and Greece reached a historic agreement for the return of the mortal remains of Tsar Samuil, Prime Minister Rumen Radev announced at the beginning of the government meeting.
The Prime Minister added that this is the result of intensive negotiations between Bulgaria and Greece.
“On Saturday, October 3, in the morning, I will be at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki, where, at a ceremony hosted by the Prime Minister of Greece, the mortal remains of Tsar Samuil will be officially handed over to the Bulgarian state,” the Prime Minister announced.
Tsar Samuil ruled the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 until his death in 1014. He died shortly after the Battle of Kleidion, where his forces were defeated by the Byzantine army. The king was succeeded by his son, Tsar Gabriel Radomir.
Radev informed that after their transportation by Spartan plane to Sofia, they will be laid in a special sarcophagus in the church of St. Sophia, where as a child the future king of Bulgaria was introduced to Christianity. Radev said that on the same day at 12:30 p.m. he invites all Bulgarians to Battenberg Square in front of the Prince’s Palace in Sofia to welcome the mortal remains of Tsar Samuil. Then, together with a procession, we will send him to St. Sophia on his last journey, he added.
The remains of two other sarcophagi, discovered in the same church, belonging to Tsar Gabriel Radomir and other members of the royal family, will also be handed over to Bulgaria.
At today’s meeting, the cabinet will approve the text of the agreement between Bulgaria and Greece, which will authorize the Minister of Culture to sign it together with his Greek counterpart. The agreement provides for the reciprocal transfer for storage of historical artifacts, as well as religious and cultural artifacts and relics, Radev said.
According to him, the Bulgarian state’s aspiration to reclaim the mortal remains of Tsar Samuil dates back to 1965, when the world-renowned Greek archaeologist Prof. Nikolaos Moutsopoulos discovered them during excavations in the basilica built by Samuil on the island of Saint Achilles in the Small Prespa Lake, where Samuil’s summer residence was located.
Prime Minister Radev emphasized that for six decades now, the Bulgarian state has been making relentless efforts to recover the mortal remains of Tsar Samuil.
“We have had the historic honor of achieving it, and I want to express my deepest gratitude to the Prime Minister of friendly Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, for his statesmanlike vision, political courage, and will to achieve this agreement together, which binds our two countries even more strongly,” said Radev.
He pointed out that today the memory of Samuel unites, not divides, the two countries, and their common membership in the EU helps each country better understand the sensitivities of the other.
