BOURGAS, BULGARIA—The Sofia Globe reports that a gold coin and an icon carved from ivory have been unearthed at the site of Rusokastro Fortress, which is located on Bulgaria’s southern Black Sea coast. Milen Nikolov of the Regional History Museum in Bourgas said the fortress was part of a complex defense system along the border with Byzantium. The coin dates to the early seventh century A.D., to the reign of Emperor Phocas, when the fortress is thought to have been built. The ivory icon, an extremely valuable item, probably belonged to a ruler who lived in the palace built on the site at the end of the fourteenth century. “Historically, it is definitely the place where Tsar Ivan Alexander, Emperor Andronik III Paleologus, and probably King Todor Svetoslav Terter resided,” Nikolov said. For more on archaeology in Bulgaria, go to “Thracian Treasure Chest.”
