Archaeological Museum

Lonely Planet review

The Buyuk Djami (Great Mosque), with its nine lead-covered domes, was built in 1496, and since 1899 it has housed Sofia's fascinating Archaeological Museum.

Thracian and Roman tombstones fill up much of the ground floor, along with weaponry and jewellery. Among the more eye-catching artefacts are a 3rd-century AD bronze head of the Emperor Gordianus; a stone plaque showing gladiatorial fights in the circus, now under the Arena di Serdica hotel; and the original 4th-century AD mosaic floor from the apse of the Church of Sveta Sofia. On show upstairs are the remarkable finds unearthed near Shipka in 2004, including the 4th-century BC gold burial mask of a Thracian king, and a magnificent bronze head with coloured glass eyes and fine copper eyelashes, thought to be of King Sevt. On the gallery level, the walls are lined with icons and frescoes removed from churches around Bulgaria. The wall facing the main entrance, meanwhile, is dominated by an early 20th-century reproduction of the Madara Horseman figure; the slightly more weathered original can be seen near Shumen. Everything in the museum is labelled in English.