Recovered 500-year-old sword on display in Mogilev

The Mogilev History Museum has arranged a presentation of a 500-year-old sword which was discovered together with knight’s armor in the Vikhra River in Mstislavl District in 2013.

The finds date back to the late 15th century – early 16th century. The sword disappeared but was found and returned to Mogilev six years later.

Several years ago local residents reported that unknown grave robbers discovered elements of armor and a sword of the knight who fought and died there in November 1501, head of the museum Aleksei Batyukov said. They took the sword and simply threw the other artifacts away. A team of archaeologists and divers, including historian and archaeologist, MP Igor Marzalyuk soon arrived at the site. Underwater excavations at the Vikhra River lasted several days and recovered the remains of an armored horseman, his horse and armor, including a helm, spurs, fragments of chain mail, and a glove. These were the first underwater excavations in the history of independent Belarus.

The remains of the horseman were buried at Zamkovaya [Castle] Hill in Mstislavl. The armor was put on display as part of the permanent exhibition of the Mogilev History Museum.

Aleksei Batyukov said that the museum tried to find the missing sword for several years. In 2018, the sword was spotted at an online auction. Representatives of the museum recognized it although the sword was changed to resemble executioner’s swords because they are considered more valuable and hence more expensive.

“This artifact is unique not only for Belarus. We found a complete armor set that belonged to a warrior who died in a battle. It reflects the quality of armament in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of the 16th century,” Aleksei Batyukov noted.

The museum bought the sword with the help of the Mogilev City Hall. Part of the sum was also donated by the Mogilev city municipal unitary enterprises of power engineering. The sword will soon join the armor in the museum.