National Historical Museum
Bulgaria's largest museum, in a former government residence below Vitosha, holding the Panagyurishte treasure.
The National Historical Museum was founded in 1973 and first opened to the public in the former Palace of Justice in central Sofia. In 2000 it moved to the Boyana district at the foot of Mount Vitosha, into Residence No. 1 of the state guest complex. That building, completed in 1974 to a design by Aleksandar Barov, is a cubic concrete composition typical of late socialist official architecture; it served as a residence of the communist leader Todor Zhivkov, and the party plenum that removed him in November 1989 was held in one of its halls.
The collections run to several hundred thousand objects, of which a fraction is on display across galleries covering prehistory, Thrace, the medieval Bulgarian states, Ottoman rule, the National Revival and the modern period. Among the best-known holdings are the fourth-century BC Panagyurishte gold treasure, Thracian metalwork and armour, icons, Revival-period costume and weapons. The grounds hold open-air displays, and the museum also administers the nearby Boyana Church.
Highlights
- Panagyurishte gold treasure and other Thracian metalwork
- Galleries from prehistory to the twentieth century
- Housed in Todor Zhivkov's former Boyana residence
- Grounds below Mount Vitosha with open-air displays
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