S’roda Treasure

The Środa treasure was a tremendous and also the largest archeological event during the twentieth century. In 1985 there were some renovations taking place in Środa Śląska, Poland when an excavator busted open a container filled with gold and silver coins. That was just the beginning of a treasure hunt that would prove to be extremely profitable.

For days and months more of the treasure kept creeping up and the final treasure consisted of a woman’s gold crown which is thought to have belonged to one of the late wives of Charles IV, likely Blanche of Valois. Also found was two 12th century gold pendants, two 13th century gold pendants, a medieval gold clasp clustered with precious stones, a dragon head ring, a sapphire ring, a moon and star ring, 39 golden coins and 2924 silver coins.

The biggest question about this particular treasure is who it definitely belonged to and how long had it been there. After being analyzed it was found that much of the jewels were dated back to the 12th and 13th century and also that they did, in fact, come from a Chech treasure which was part of the Valois, Stauf, and Luxembourg dynasty. It is further speculated that the treasure may have been hidden during “black death” which was the persecution of the Jews in the mid 14th century.

The bulk of the treasure can be found today in The Regional Museum in Środa Śląska, Poland. The eagles that make up part of the jewels were a sign that related to empirical standings after the 13th century. Eagles represented power and underlined the position of monarch. There is still part of this royal treasure that has never been found. It is however certain that any excavation that has taken place since 1985 has had the Środa treasure in mind.