“Medieval knight” found buried in Polish city

The remains of a man believed to have been a medieval knight have been discovered beneath a 13th- or 14th-century tombstone in the Polish city of Gdańsk during excavations at the location of a famous former ice cream store.

A limestone tombstone bearing the image of a knight with chainmail, a shield and a sword was discovered last month at a site where, previously, the remains of the oldest-known wooden church in Poland – dating back to the 12th century – had also been found.

That prompted a further search for the possible remains of the person who had been buried in the grave and, last week, the regional conservator of monuments announced on social media: “We got him!”

Around 30cm below the tombstone, the skeletal remains of a man were found. He once stood an estimated 180cm (5'11") tall, which would have made him “a whole lot of man” at the time, wrote the conservator. Researchers had expected him to have a height of around 150cm due to the size of the tombstone.

“Preliminarily, I can say that he was a strongly built man, over 40 years of age,” one of the team, Aleksandra Pudło from the Archaeological Museum, told Gdansk.pl, the official website of the city.

Gdansk.pl says researchers are “almost certain of the knightly status of the man buried here” and that the nature of the tombstone makes clear that “someone important and wealthy was buried beneath it.” The team believe it is the only object of its kind ever found in Poland.

“This was likely a leader or someone who enjoyed special recognition and respect,” Sylwia Kurzyńska from ArcheoScan, which took part in the excavation, told TVN broadcaster.

However, his coat of arms did not survive, making it hard for the researchers to determine the man's identity. Gdansk.pl notes that the city was captured by the Teutonic Knights in 1308, but that the remains could also belong to someone who served the local House of Sobiesław ruling dynasty.

The discoveries have been made at a site located between the Grodzka, Sukiennicza and Czopowa streets in Gdańsk. The area was previously famous for its ice cream shop, “Miś”, which operated there from 1962 until 2023.

For the last two years, the location has been an active archaeological site after a company which bought the plot for development had to conduct archaeological research before beginning any construction.

In late 2024, the archaeologists discovered the remains of a wooden church, 14 by 14 meters in size, that has been dated to around 1140, making it the oldest known church in the city.

Next to it, a cemetery with over 200 graves was found. According to Gdansk.pl, eight of them had tombstones, one of which turned out to be that of the possible medieval knight.

Main image credits: ArcheoScan via Pomeranian Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments