National Historical Museum of Bulgaria

About

Established in 1973, the museum wouldn’t open its first exhibition until 1984 - the 1300th anniversary of the Bulgarian state. In 2000, the museum moved to an even more stately home - the Communist dictator Todor Zhivkov’s primary residence.The museum’s collection of 700,000 cultural monuments is used to tell the story of Bulgaria’s 8000 year history through its major epochs. Everything from prehistoric bone tools, to Thracian treasures, to medieval reliquaries and the personal effects of Bulgarian monarchs line the 5 halls. In the museum’s courtyard, a lapidarium exhibits columns and sculptures from the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine periods.