This Week In History News, Jun. 5 – 11 – All That’s Interesting

Lost Renaissance masterpiece found in England, medieval saber found in Greece, hidden cities uncovered in the Amazon.Renaissance Masterpiece Worth $320,000 Found Gathering Dust On An Elderly Womans Bedroom Wall

For decades, an elderly woman living in a small bungalow in north London kept an old oil painting of Mary and the baby Jesus above her bed. Inherited from her father upon his death 30 years ago, this keepsake gathered dust as it hung off-kilter on her bedroom wall.

But when she was forced to enter a nursing home last year, her family brought in an auction house to see if selling any of her possessions might help cover the mounting bills. Then they were shocked to learn that the dusty old painting in her bedroom was actually a lost masterpiece from the Renaissance worth $320,000.

Read the full story of this one-of-a-kind discovery here.

Hundreds of years ago, a battle broke out at a monastery along the Greek coast. There, raiders likely from Turkey clashed with Byzantine locals. One side wielded a terrifying saber, and archaeologists have found the weapon among the monasterys ruins.

The 18-inch saber was first found between 2000 and 2001 at the ruins of a coastal Christian monastery about 40 miles away from Thessaloniki, Greece, but recent excavations have revealed more details about its past.

Dig deeper in this report.

Legends of lost cities hidden deep within the Amazon captivated Europeans for centuries. The Spanish were convinced of a city of gold named El Dorado. British explorer Percy Fawcett risked his life trying to find the mythical Lost City of Z. While he vanished forever, modern archaeologists just found the ruins of a long-lost ancient network of cities in Bolivia.

Read on here.

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This Week In History News, Jun. 5 - 11 - All That's Interesting