Museum of History of Medicine

The Museum of the History of Medicine is unique in the Balkans, boasting a large array of medical tools from the Thracian, Greek colonization, the Roman Empire, and the commencement of the new Bulgarian governments after Bulgaria’s liberation. The structure itself was designed in 1866 by a Varna merchant named Paraskeva Nicholau as the first charity hospital and opened in 1869.

Three halls portray the evolution of medicine over many ages. Some of the methods used, such as drilling into the skull and then tying it with powerful bindings to misshape the skull, are astounding in their variety and brutality.

Many old vertebrae demonstrate that our forebears suffered from the same problems that we do now, such as arthritis and back pain.

Each of the museum’s displays has something to wonder at, and it is highly recommended as a great place to visit on a wet day.