Museum of the National Revival
Winter
November – April: 10.00 – 17.00 (Saturday and Sunday closed)
Summer
May – October: 10.00 – 17.00 (Sunday closed)
Address
Varna, 21 “Doctor Lyudvig Zamenhof” Str.
Phones+ 359 52 658891
+359 52 604873
About the Museum
The Museum of the National Revival was opened on October 4, 1959 in a specially restored building, an important part of Varna's revival processes. It was built in 1862 for the needs of the Bulgarian school. In 1865, a room on the first floor was set aside for the first Bulgarian church in the city, "St. Archangel Michael"; five years later, the second floor housed the community center "Vozrozhdenie".
Creator of the museum was Prof. Dean Velko Tonev. In 1961, together with Associate Professor Minko Gechev, they created for the first time in Bulgaria one unique for its time exhibition, recreating the setting of a 19th century classroom. The visitors were able to see sand tables, various writing aids, textbooks and notebooks used in the period of the Bulgarian Revival. On one of the walls was the original blackboard from 1861 with Cyrillic letters written on it. Ir was donated by the local merchant Hristo Popovich.
In 2006, the museum found a new home at 21 “Dr. L. Zamenhof” Street. The author of the exhibition plan was Stanka Dimitrova, and the artist-designer was Tsvetana Vekova. The building was built in the second half of the 19th century and after the Liberation it briefly served as a girls’ school.
Today the exposition is located on two floors and presents the features of the era of the Bulgarian Revival – the time of the National Liberation Movement of the Bulgarian people against the Ottoman rule. In the Museum on can see the most characteristic moments of these processes in Varna.
The first floor recreates the period of the Russian-Turkish wars affecting the city, which was part of the so-called “fortress quadrangle” and of great military-strategic importance, determined by the most direct communication by land between the Russian border and the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Among the interesting objects of this period are weapons and firearms, some of which are true works of art, richly decorated and inlaid with additional elements of mother-of-pearl, metal edging and ornaments.
The second floor is divided into three separate halls. In the “School” hall, the concept of Prof. V. Tonev has been restored and the environment of a room from the mutual school has been recreated with the characteristic teaching aids and elements.
The “Central” hall emphasizes on the economic, cultural, educational and church activities, as well as on some participants in prominent events of the era. Part of the rich collection of old printed and handwritten books, some of which are of national importance, is exhibited here: a handwritten gospel of Hieromonk Danail Etropolsky from 1625; Psalter from the 13th century, written on lambskin; “Steamatography” from 1741 by Hristofor Zhefarovich; “Nedelnik” from 1806 of St. Sophronius Vrachanski, “Tsarstvenik” from 1844 by Hristaki Pavlovich and many others. Among them is the first textbook in the New Bulgarian language from 1824, Dr. Petar Beron’s “Primer with Various Teachings”, better known as the “Fish Primer”.
Of particular interest are the paintings representing “Old Varna” in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century – over 160 works of fine art are kept in the fund. Due to the limited space of the building, only a small part of them are exhibited. However, the digital catalog created in 2023 gives the visitor the opportunity to immerse himself in the atmosphere of the city, by viewing the entire collection through the Kiosk-system in the museum.
The “Revolutionary Movement” hall is dedicated to the struggles in Varna and Varna Region for national freedom. The Bulgarians were often involved in the causes of liberation and unification of other nations. A large part of the revolutionaries gained their military experience precisely on the battlefields of Europe. One of the vivid examples was their participation in the groups of the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. Today, the museum keeps one of the few surviving battle flags of Garibaldi, as well as an autographed portrait of the famous revolutionary.
Special attention is also paid to another attractive item – the saber with revolver of the voivode Hadji Dimitar: a combined weapon manufactured by the Belgian company “Henri Goossens & Sons”.
On April 24, 1877, Russia declared another war on the Ottoman Empire, which ended with the Liberation of Bulgaria. A huge number of Bulgarian volunteers took part in the war as an independent military unit called “Bulgarian Army of Volunteers”. Today, the personal belongings and the memory of the volunteers, who connected their names with Varna, are exhibited in several showcases: various orders and awards, a silver cup with gilding and the monogram of the Russian Emperor Nicholai II, presented to Ivan Vladikov; personal belongings of Varna-born volunteers Georgi Minkov Sivkov and Nikola Korchev, one of the saviors of the Samara flag. The Order of Merit and parade saber of the youngest volunteer, later General Todor Gabarev, are also shown here.
The Museum of the National Revival in Varna has a rich and diverse collection. Due to the specifics of the exhibition area, only a small part of this wealth is located in its halls. Therefore, temporary exhibitions are periodically organised, through which part of this fund becomes available to a wider audience.
