Precious find in Polish cathedral
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
04.01.2018 10:24
A collection of 480 gold coins and some 200 other items, including jewellery, beads and devotional objects, have been found in a cathedral in Bydgoszcz, north-central Poland.
![The interior of the Bydgoszcz cathedral. Photo: Taktoperz77 [CC BY-SA 3.0 pl (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/pl/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://external.polskieradio.pl/files/11819f78-ed7c-4758-ba25-c90784c0d16d.file "The interior of the Bydgoszcz cathedral. Photo: Taktoperz77 [CC BY-SA 3.0 pl (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/pl/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons")
The interior of the Bydgoszcz cathedral. Photo: Taktoperz77 [CC BY-SA 3.0 pl (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/pl/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
The discovery was made during routine archeological excavations accompanying renovation work at the cathedral.
Most of the coins date back to the 1640s. The oldest one is a gold ducat from the reign of King Sigismund Augustus in the first half of the 16th century. Some of the coins are from Austria and Turkey.
Other items, such as rings and necklaces, date back to the 16th and 17th centuries. Archeologists claim that they had been originally deposited in a wooden box, which has not been preserved.
The find has been handed over to the regional museum in Bydgoszcz. Art historians are hoping to establish how and when the precious objects were placed in the city’s cathedral. (mk/gs)