Low summer waters in Warsaw’s Vistula River revealed a medieval sword on July 2nd when amateur angler Andrzej Korpikiewicz hooked it while fishing for pike, according to the New York Post. Preliminary assessments placed the weapon in the 13th or 14th century, when the first wooden huts that grew into Poland’s capital were being raised.
“It was supposed to be this big fish — but it turned out to be this big a sword!” quipped the Capital Conservator of Monuments group on social media, adding, “As you can see, the Vistula hides real treasures!”
The single-handed arming sword measured 79 cm from tip to pommel and retained its blade, a spherical pommel and a straight cross-guard. Experts said the blade’s weight was markedly reduced after centuries in river silt but otherwise the weapon was “surprisingly well preserved.” An incised cross on both the blade and the hilt suggested a maker’s mark and sparked speculation about a link to the Knights Templar, active in Eastern Europe until their suppression in 1312 CE.
“A more precise date can be determined because of the cross sign, which is the ‘signature’ of the blacksmith who made it,” said Anna Magdalena Łań, chief specialist in monument conservation for Warsaw, according to ProTV News. Łań added that further metallurgical tests could clarify whether the cross was devotional or purely functional and noted that a sword this old, found in what is now Warsaw, was unique.
Officials confirmed the artifact’s authenticity and transferred it to the Metal Conservation Workshop of the State Archaeological Museum. Before full conservation, restorer Michał Krzuczkowski conducted X-ray imaging and micro-photography to map corrosion pockets and hidden engravings. Metal specialists will stabilise the iron, remove mineralised wood fibres from the grip and prepare the weapon for display.
Because the sword was pulled from the riverbed without ceramics, coins or armour fragments, archaeologists said the lack of context complicated efforts to trace its journey. Łań ruled out a ritual deposition, explaining that throwing weapons into water was a pagan custom largely abandoned in Christian Poland by the 1200s. One hypothesis is that the river’s shifting course displaced the weapon from an eroded settlement upstream.
Warsaw heritage conservator Michał Krasucki praised Korpikiewicz for “knowing the correct procedures for handling archaeological discoveries.” The fisherman said he stumbled on the sword by accident, noting that many relic hunters comb the Vistula for years without success.
The discovery followed a series of recent finds in Poland. In Gdańsk, crews renovating a shuttered ice-cream parlour unearthed the well-preserved tomb of a medieval knight, complete with spurs and weapon fittings. Earlier, beachgoers on the Baltic coast turned in a bronze dagger dating to around 2,500 years ago after spotting it in the sand.
Heritage officials said the sword would remain in laboratory conditions for at least a year before curators exhibit it alongside other early-Warsaw artifacts that chart the city’s rise from minor duchy to royal capital.
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