Remains of Bulgaria’s Czar Samuel return ‘home’ after 1,000 years

More than 1,000 years after his death, remains attributed to medieval ruler Czar Samuel arrived in Bulgaria on October 3, 2026, concluding protracted negotiations with Greece. The coffin was transported by a Bulgarian military plane escorted by fighter jets and was received in Sofia with a public ceremony that included the national anthem, a 21-gun salute and a flypast.

Thousands gathered in a central square to mark the handover, and a procession escorted the remains to the Church of Saint Sofia, a sixth-century basilica where church officials say Samuel was baptized. Bulgarian political leaders from across the spectrum paid tribute during the event; Prime Minister Rumen Radev framed the return as part of a broader European effort to read history through shared cultural ties and to avoid reopening historical wounds.

The transfer is part of a wider cultural agreement between the Greek and Bulgarian culture ministers: under the accord, Greece will receive 48 objects taken by Bulgarian troops from churches and monasteries in Greece during World War I. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he hoped the ceremony would bolster Greece’s campaign to repatriate the Parthenon Marbles and argued that the international community is reassessing how cultural heritage should be treated.

Samuel’s remains have long been contested. The bones were found in a border area of Greece in the 1960s, and the ruler is a potent symbol of Bulgarian national identity. He is also claimed in North Macedonia, where a large statue of Samuel stands in Skopje; a 2022 bilateral commission recommended describing Samuel as the head of a state that many contemporary historians consider to have been the medieval Bulgarian Empire, centered in territory that is now part of North Macedonia.