Archaeological Museum

One of the largest and most valuable museums in Bulgaria, the Archaeology Museum was established as a formal institution for the first time on June 3, 1888, as a division of the City Library.

The Varna Girl’s School was initially housed in the building, which was constructed between 1892 and 1898. It was the largest schoolhouse in the Balkans at that time and was designed in a Neo-Renaissance style by renowned architect Petko Momchilov. The first exposition of the Varna Archaeology Museum was opened in this building in 1906 and since 1983 the place is used only as a museum.

It hosts valuable artifacts from the Prehistoric, Ancient and Medieval eras, as well as a large gallery with Orthodox icons. An extremely precious and unique part of the exposition are the findings from the Varna Chalcolithic Necropolis – the oldest processed gold in the world (V millenium B.C.).

The Varna Gold Treasure, the oldest known piece of wrought gold, was discovered in Chalcolithic burials there in 1972, making this location famous all over the world for Raycho Marinov’s discovery, is displayed within the Archaeology Museum.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varna_Archaeological_Museum
• https://visit.varna.bg/en/za-otkritieto.html
• Thracian gold discovery by Raycho Marinov 1972
• https://www.bta.bg/en/bg_archaeology/490586-5th-millennium-bc-gold-anthropomorphic-figurine-exhibit-of-the-month-for-july-of

• 1898 Three Classes School picture is reproduced with the kind permission of Nikolay. Penev