External images | |
---|---|
Belt of Vytautas (high quality) | |
Close up of one of the larger discs | |
Close up of the smaller discs |
Litva Hoard is a medieval treasure found in Litva (Літва) village in Maladzyechna Raion, western Belarus. It was discovered in the early 1990s and contained a large number of Prague groschens (6,168 of them were acquired by the Museum of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus)[1] and a large gilded silver belt. It is the largest Prague groschen hoard found in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[2] They were minted in Kutná Hora during the reigns of John of Bohemia, Charles IV, and Wenceslaus IV (1310–1419).[2] The ornate belt is an example of Islamic art and must have been a gift from the Crimean Khanate. It became known as the Belt of Vytautas because of speculations that it might have belonged to Grand Duke Vytautas though there is no direct evidence to support the claim.