The mortal remains of Tsar Samuil will be returned to Bulgaria from Greece and welcomed with a state ceremony. The remains of his son Tsar Gabriel Radomir, his nephew Tsar Ivan Vladislav and the children of Gabriel Radomir will also arrive in the country. The event is the result of efforts that lasted more than six decades.
The official handover of the remains will take place at the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki at a ceremony hosted by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. They will be transported to Sofia by a military plane "Spartan", which will be escorted in Bulgarian airspace by two pairs of MiG-29 and F-16 fighter jets.
The plane and the fighters are expected to fly over "Prince Alexander the First" Square, where the public welcome is scheduled. "At 12:30 p.m. I invite all compatriots in front of the Prince's Palace in Sofia to welcome the mortal remains together and bow before the memory of the great Bulgarian ruler Tsar Samuil," the invitation reads.
Procession and memorial service at "St. Sophia"
At "Vasil Levski" Airport, the remains will be welcomed by an honorary guard of honor. The cortege with the remains of Tsar Samuil will continue to the square "Knyaz Alexander Parvi", and the boxes with the remains of Tsar Ivan Vladislav, Tsar Gavrail Radomir and his children will be taken to the National History Museum.
The state ceremony will feature the poem "To the Homeland" by Atanas Dalchev and a speech by the Prime Minister. After the anthem, performed by the Guards' representative brass band, 21 artillery salutes will be fired.
After the solemn procession, the remains of Tsar Samuil will be laid in a special marble sarcophagus in the basilica "St. Sophia". A memorial service will be held in the church. People will be able to watch the ceremony on video walls and then bow, without the laying of wreaths and flowers.
„The return of the mortal remains of the Bulgarian Tsar Samuil is a very successful political act. This is a political success for Bulgaria, for the Bulgarians, in particular in this case for the current government, because it brought this success to an end. But this is a common Bulgarian“, says archaeologist Prof. Lyudmil Vagalinski.They were discovered in 1965
The bones of Tsar Samuil were discovered in 1965 in the Basilica of “Saint Achilles“ by the Greek Prof. Nikolaos Moutsopoulos. They have been identified as the remains of the Bulgarian ruler.
Historian Prof. Plamen Pavlov defines their return as a “victory of historical truth and historical justice“ and as an act of respect on the part of the Greek side.
As part of the agreement, Bulgaria will return 48 valuables to Greece, including church utensils, icons and reliquaries. The Director of the National Museum of History, Assoc. Prof. Boni Petrunova, specifies that there are 53 objects, as some of them are multi-component.
BDZ has provided free travel to Sofia and back on certain trains from Burgas, Plovdiv, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Petrich and Vidin. The tickets are round-trip and valid for travel within the day, with only the seat reservation fee of 51 euro cents per direction being charged.
Sources: BNR