Museum sights in Sofia
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National Museum of Military History
Don’t be put off by the rusting army trucks in the overgrown front yard – this museum is among the most interesting and best presented in Sofia. Displays over three floors tell the story of warfare in Bulgaria from the time of the Thracians onwards, with extensive labelling and information boards in English. Most space goes to the period from the 1876 April Uprising through to WWI, with cases filled with weaponry, rebel flags and a seemingly endless parade of uniforms and personal belongings of soldiers. Among the more striking are the shaggy-fur flying costume, resembling a traditional Kuker outfit, worn by a Lt Simeon Petrov during the First Balkan War, and the pint…
reviewed
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B
Archaeological Museum
The Buyuk Djami (Great Mosque) since 1899 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 fin…
reviewed
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C
Mineral Baths
The Mineral Baths – also known as the Turkish Baths – was built between 1911 and 1913. With its elegant striped façade and ceramic decorations recalling the designs of Nesebâr’s medieval churches, it’s one of Sofia’s architectural gems, but it fell into dereliction in the 1990s and has been undergoing sporadic restoration for over a decade. When restoration is finally complete, it will house a new civic museum, although no date has been set for this. The centrepiece of the little square between the baths and the Banya Bashi Mosque, known as pl Banski, is a modern fountain, while a smart drinking-fountain complex has been constructed just behind the baths, wher…
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D
Royal Palace
Originally built as the headquarters of the Ottoman police force, it was at the Royal Palace that Bulgaria's national hero, Vasil Levski, was tried and tortured before his public execution in 1873. After the Liberation, the building was remodelled in Viennese style and in 1887, apparently undeterred by its grisly recent past, Prince Alexander Battenberg moved in and it became the official residence of Bulgaria's royal family until the communist takeover.
These days it houses the National Art Gallery and the Ethnographical Museum, while the shaded park at the rear contains an odd assemblage of statues.
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E
National Museum of Natural History
You can almost sense the ghosts of generations of school parties dutifully trooping through the musty halls of this old-fashioned museum. The didactic collection of animal, plant and mineral specimens is vast, although there’s little labelling in anything but Bulgarian. Rocks, crystals and minerals grace the ground floor, while on the next two floors you can browse cases full of stuffed birds and animals, including a brown bear dangling a Nazi hunting medal from its claw and some threadbare apes, lions and tigers. Pickled fish and cases of dried insects complete the collection.
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F
National Polytechnic Museum
One of Sofia’s less visited attractions, this small museum is nevertheless a treasure trove for anyone interested in the history of science and technology. On show is a varied (though not always well labelled) collection covering such subjects as photography, radio and time measurement. A gleaming, perfectly restored 1928 Ford Model A is parked just inside, while other displays include atomic clocks, typewriters, early movie cameras and mechanical pianos. Look for the Bulgarian-made freeze-dried ‘space food’, which includes a packet of powdered tarator.
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G
Ethnographical Museum
Spread over two floors, the Ethnographical Museum has a permanent collection of regional costumes and crafts, although most of the space is usually occupied by long-term temporary exhibitions on topics of varying interest, such as traditional festivals or carpet-making. (Everything is captioned in English.) Some rooms are in poor condition, but others, with their marble fireplaces, mirrors and ornate plasterwork, are worth pausing over; note the lobster, fish and dead duck on the ceiling of what was once presumably a royal dining room.
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