The National Historical Museum in Sofia became Bulgaria’s largest museum when it was opened to the general public on 5th. May 1973. More than 650,000 documents from the Paleolithic period to present day was moved to 4 floors with 15 different halls in the year 2000. Given below are the few permanent exhibitions out of the 10 percent documents, which are exhibited today:
The most popular permanent exhibitions houses a wide variety of extinct species, some which are extinct world- wide like the Caroline parrot while others such as the, bearded vulture, steppe viper and monk seal all of which are extinct in Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian artist Vera Macheva took 20 years to conduct his exhibition “costumes of the past” which had beautiful collections of miniature costumes from the past to the present.
One of the most rare collections is “Cultural Valuables”. This unique collection contains priceless marble statues, beautiful icons, and precious metals dating from the 4th century B.C.
Watercolors, outdoor ink drawings, and sketches of Bulgarian wildlife are showcased in the “Paintings of Assen Ignatov” exhibition.
New specimens are being added to the collections on display. The museum houses the largest team of researchers and scientists. Some of the active collections are:
More than 17000 bone fragments and bone fossils, 1900 dis-articulated skeletons, 1000 egg specimens and 80 rare nests are found in the bird collection.
The ichthyologic collection has more than 270 reptile species and 80 amphibian species in addition to 5000 specimens of Bulgarian herpetofauna and more than 300 specimens from other countries, as its major part.
The new annexation is the mammal collection, consists of more than 2500 skeletons, 100 mounted skins and 250 samples kept in alcohol.
Over 5000 preserved lichen samples of Bozhana Zhelyazova and over 1200 preserved samples of Bulgarian flora are found in the botany collection.
The rock and mineral collection with more than 1400 specimens from all over the world, includes more then 1500 rocks, 40 gems, meteorites and meteorite cast-offs etc.
Coral and mollusks from the Lower Cretaceous of Bulgaria with more than 30000 specimens of invertebrate fauna fossils, 80 species of mammal fossils and 4500 species of sub-fossil mammals are found in the fossil collection.
Crustacea specimens, animals from the Aegean Sea and non-insect invertebrates from the Balkan Peninsula are contained in the invertebrate collection – some specimens in the collection have yet to be identified.
Cecelia Owens is a travel writer for BestFlights.co.za, a top South African travel comparison website and also wrote the article, “Mount Vitosha, the oldest Nature Park on the Balkan Peninsula“.