Possible Shishman-Dynasty Graves Unearthed in Bulgaria

SOFIA, BULGARIA—The graves of several aristocrats have been found under the site of the medieval Church of St. George, located near the town of Botevgrad in northwestern Bulgaria. Archaeology in Bulgaria reports that Filiip Petrunov of the country’s National Museum of History discovered a ring with the monogram of the Shishman Dynasty, which ruled from 1331 to 1395, in the grave of one woman that had been built into the foundations of the church. His team also found evidence that the church had been part of a monastery, which at the time was located on an island in a small lake. Byzantine coins from the fifth and sixth centuries suggest that the monastery could date to the early Christian era.