Treasure from the river Luha

At the moment specialists cannot define the precise age of this finding, because an interesting, but provincial history museum in the city of Volodymyr-Volynsky does not have money for a special analysis which could answer many questions. Therefore we have to rely on the knowledge of the employees of the museum and Rivne-based restorer, Oleksii Voitiuk, who brought the sword to life. They ascribe the sword to the time of Principality of Galicia-Volhynia.

Volodymyr Stemkovsky, the director of the history museum, says that the sword of this kind has not been ever found on the territory of western Ukraine. The restorer admits that has never held in his hands such a rare finding, a witness of its time. Besides, Oleksii Voitiuk in this region is the only qualified restorer who works with black me­tal and all things he brings back to life are only ra­rities. It was Roman Senyshchak who found the sword in the Luha River located a few kilometers away from the village Zymne, which used to be the winter residence of Prince Volodymyr. Roman is a local lover of history and antiquities, and he has found many items in the river and on its banks. Volodymyr Stemkovsky makes a special mention of the patriotism of Roman, because it is no secret that he could have sold this sword. But he wanted this thing to be an item in the museum of his home town.

The restoration works lasted for eight months. Volodymyr Stemkovsky says that the sword has been preserved very well, it is practically unda­maged, but it is not so simple to remove the layers of several hundred years (if not thousands). The most important thing is that he does not have analogs, being the only one of its kind. It was meant actually for a battle, it could belong to a wealthy man, because an ordinary townsman would not be able to buy it. The sword has a non-standard length of 92 centimeters and a cutting blade of 87 centimeters. It could have been made as an individual order.