The President of BAS Prof. Julian Revalski, Member of the Academy, attended the opening
The exhibition “Trebenishte. 105 years since the discovery of the necropolis at Trebenishte. 1918 – 2023” is presented by the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at BAS. It can be viewed from 10 October 2023 to 24 March 2024.
The Balkan Peninsula is a crossroads of different civilizations and cultures, here we write the history not only of Europe but of the whole world. Each of us cherishes our identity; however, our common history does not divide but unites. With these words Vice President Iliana Iotova opened the exhibition. In her address she thanked scientists and museum specialists for their hard work and dedication. “You are uniting your efforts for the sake of history, you are writing together the annals of humanity. You are building good neighbourly relations through the science you are leaving to the next generations. Exploring the past, you uncover ways of life, traditions, human souls, thoughts. With your discoveries, you write a history that is much stronger than words. And the world needs the lessons of the past to know how to build the future,” the Vice President said.
The exhibition is a result of the joint work of archaeologists from the National Archaeological Museum at BAS (NAIM-BAS), the NI Archaeological Museum of the Republic of North Macedonia (NIAMRNM), the National Museum of Serbia, and the NI Institute for the Protection of Monuments and Museum – Ohrid, as well as of the good partnership between the cultural and scientific institutions of Bulgaria, Serbia and North Macedonia. It is held under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria and with the support of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
The opening ceremony took place on 9 October in the presence of Krastyu Krastev, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria, Daim Luci, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of North Macedonia, Miodrag Ivanović, State Secretary in the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Prof. Julian Revalski, the directors of the three museums: Assoc. Prof. Hristo Popov, Director of NAIM-BAS, Dr. Slavica Babamova, Director of NIAMRNM – Skopje and Mrs. Bojana Borić Brešković, Director of the National Museum of Serbia and other dignitaries.
In 2019 the exhibition was presented to the general public in Skopje. According to the cooperation agreement between the three museums – NAIM, NIAMRNM and the National Museum of Serbia, it will be displayed in Sofia in the period October 2023 – March 2024 and in Belgrade in 2025. The exhibition includes objects from the necropolis that have never been exhibited together before.
The necropolis near the village of Trebenishte, 14 km from Ohrid, was accidentally discovered by Bulgarian troops during road construction at the end of World War I in the spring of 1918. The first five graves were excavated by Bulgarian officers who handed over the finds to the Bulgarian administration in Ohrid. Later, the Bulgarian state managed to send the archaeologist Karel Škorpil who investigated graves 6 and 7. In the graves were buried warriors with their combat gear, gold insignia, silver and bronze vessels, silver jewellery, etc. The objects date the necropolis to the second half of the 6th century and the 5th century BC.
Many of the finds from the first seven graves are now part of the permanent exhibition of the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia. The exposition also presents newly restored finds as well as objects from subsequent research from the collections of the National Museum of Serbia and the Archaeological Museum in Ohrid. On the Serbian side, there are artefacts from the archaeological research conducted by Prof. Nikola Vulić in the 1930s. The Macedonian side shows finds from excavations carried out in the period 1953-1954, as well as in 1972, on other parts of the necropolis at Trebenishte, as well as grave finds from the necropolis at Gorna Porta from the town of Ohrid, discovered in 2002.
The exposition is accompanied by a poster exhibition presenting the history of the research; it also includes printed publications in Bulgarian and English.
The exhibition in Sofia is realized under the project “100 Years of Trebenishte” with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The event is a positive act of development and deepening of cultural cooperation between Bulgaria, Serbia and North Macedonia. It is a step forward in strengthening good-neighbourly relations and cooperation in the field of cultural heritage and science and an expression of the processes of building common European values as well as of the European integration of the Western Balkans.
