A fisherman has found a medieval ‘Knights Templar sword‘ in his local river.
Andrzej Korpikiewicz only popped out to see the historically low water levels recorded at the river.
But he instead came home with a priceless medieval artefact.
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After finding the ancient sword, he said: “People spend years looking for this sort of thing, but I came across it completely by accident.”
Andrzej first noticed a piece of metal protruding from the surface of the ceding Vistula River in the Polish capital, Warsaw.
He initially thought it was a piece of construction rebar and fished it out of the water.
He cleaned off the mud, leeches and snails stuck to the metal and soon realised it was an almost completely intact sword that was only missing its pointed tip.
It had a cross-like symbol halfway down the hilt and a spherical knob at the pommel.
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Andrzej told What’s The Jam: “I knew then that this was probably a very interesting find and immediately thought that it should be given to someone who knows more about these kinds of things.”
He wrapped the sword in wet clothes to keep it damp and held it at home overnight.
As required by Polish law, he reported the find to the authorities the next morning.
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He took the medieval artefact to the office of the Warsaw Conservator of Monuments, Michał Krasucki.
Experts confirmed that the sword dates back to the Middle Ages and could have been owned by a soldier of the Knights Templar.
Michał praised the sword’s condition as well as Andrzej’s prompt actions.
He said: “The finder brought it to us as quickly as possible, thus fulfilling his statutory obligation.
“It’s great that he knew what to do.
“The sword is preserved almost along its entire length, with a characteristic spherical head and an intriguing sign of the cross on the handle.
“We confirmed that it is a medieval sword; we will know more after further analysis.”
The artefact is now in the hands of the Metal Conservation Workshop of the State Archaeological Museum, where it will undergo further research.
Andrzej said: “People spend years looking for this sort of thing, but I came across it completely by accident.”
Michał added: “The Vistula River still hides many treasures.”
