LAND OF TREASURES: The golden treasure of Zlatinitsa, Yambol region, was presented to the public for the first time at the National History Museum in Sofia on July 27. After the treasure's restoration, which should occur before the end of the year, the museum will house a full-scale exhibit of the treasure. The treasure will then be divided between the two institutions that initially sponsored the treasure's excavation, the National Museum of History and the Museum of Archaeology to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

A RECENT archaeological discovery suggests that the last dynasty of Byzantine emperors, the Paleologus, had its roots in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains.
During the final excavations for the year, a team led by Nikolai Ovcharov found seals near Tatul village. The team also found proof that the forefather of the dynasty, George Paleologus, lived in a large estate nearby.
This year's excavations at Tatul suggest that the village had been an ancient religious centre with temples and burials.
Ovcharov's team suspects that Tatul houses the grave of the hero Orpheus, the Thracian king who, according to myth, descended to the underworld seeking his beloved Eurydice.