Archaeology: 14th Century gold coin found at Bulgaria’s Rusokastro Fortress site
A gold coin from the time of Andronicus II and Andronicus III Paleologus (14th century) has been discovered during archaeological excavations at the Rusokastro Fortress site on Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea coast, the Regional Historical Museum in Bourgas said.
The coin is in halves. It has an image on one side of Mary, the mother of Jesus, with the walls and towers of Constantinople, and on the other Jesus, crowning the two Byzantine emperors.
This is the fourth gold coin discovered in recent years at the Rusokastro fortress and the third from the time of the emperors Andronicus II and Andronicus III Paleologos.
It was discovered during the examination of the western fortress wall of Rusokastro. A battle tower from the fourth century. that was unknown until now, has been discovered underneath.
The excavations are being led by the Regional Historical Museum in Bourgas and are financed by the Municipality of Kameno and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Rusokastro is the largest mediaeval fortress in southern Bulgaria, similar in size to Tsarevets, Trapezitsa, Cherven and Kaliakra. The walls are more than five metres high. The Rusokastro mediaeval fortress was built at a strategic location, with a complex fortification system, meant as an impregnable defence of the border with Byzantium.
(Photo: Regional Historical Museum, Bourgas)
