St John the Baptist's bones 'found in Bulgarian monastery'

The remains of St John the Baptist have been found in an ancient reliquary in a 5th century monastery on Sveti Ivan Island in Bulgaria, archaeologists have claimed.

The remains – small fragments of a skull, bones from a jaw and an arm, and a tooth – were discovered embedded in an altar in the ruins of the ancient monastery, on the island in the Black Sea.

A Greek inscription on the stone casque contains a reference to June 24 – the date on which John the Baptist is believed to have been born.

"We found the relics of St John the Baptist - exactly what the archaeologists had expected," said Bozhidar Dimitrov, Bulgaria's minister without portfolio and a former director of the country's National History Museum, who was present when the stone urn was opened. "It has been confirmed that these are parts of his skeleton."

Click here to read this article from The Daily Telegraph

See also "Bulgaria, Sozopol in Euphoria over St. John the Baptist Archaeology Find" from the Sofia News Agency


See also "John the Baptist's Bones Discovered?" from Discovery News