Nov 21, 2021
Who doesn't love a story about long lost treasure? Well, this is potentially a big one!
Treasure hunters think they are on the verge of unearthing the Lemminkäinen Hoard - a mythical stash of gold, jewels, and ancient artefacts thought to be worth up to £15 billion ($20.4 billion). But, after 34 years of trying, some of them probably think they have been on the brink before...
If they're right, it would represent the largest and most valuable trove ever discovered and is believed to contain thousands of precuious stones like rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds, and thousands more artefacts dating back millennia - supposedly all lying in an ancient temple within the massive Sibbosberg cave system 20 miles east of Helsinki, Finland’s capital.
The treasure’s alleged existence first emerged in 1984, when local landowner Ior Bock, a well-known eccentric, claimed that his family were direct descendants of Lemminkäinen, a prominent figure in Finnish pagan mythology. According to Bock, the underground chamber on his large estate was sealed up with huge stone slabs in the 10th century to protect the treasures from invading Swedish and Swiss armies.
But now, three decades after the search first began, and more than 100,000 hours of painstaking excavation, a group of 12 ‘penniless’ friends believe they are only meters away from the treasure, and expect to get into the cave next summer.
The pals, known as the ‘Temple Twelve’, began searching in 1987 and have dedicated their summers to finding the treasure ever since, dedicating six hours a day, seven days a week, to digging through the labyrinthine cave complex near Helsinki.
We'll keep you posted!
Today's OGN Sunday Magazine articles:
Stepwells: India is reviving its masterpieces of ancient rain capturing architecture.