HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE It is located in the former Buyuk (the Large) mosque, built in 1474. The building is stone, of typical Ottoman construction, preserved up to its roof in its original appearance. It has square shape and is oriented by its constructors almost unmistakably in the four global directions. The roof has nine typical lead domes of one and the same diameter.

In 1892 it functioned as a museum and officially opened its doors in 1905. Around the building, during the excavations they found numerous statues and stone monuments dating back to various epochs that could be seen in its yard.

Inside it is well-organized and well-maintained. The exhibitions have been arranged with lots of taste, artistic flair and eye for the detail. There is a small shop for books and souvenirs. The central entrance is from the side of the fountain in front of President’s building, and at the back, inside the yard there is an art-café with beautiful thematic garden. You could take photos inside, but without flash as a rule.

EXHIBITS It has 5 exhibition halls – Central, Prehistory, Middle Ages, Treasury and hall for visiting exhibition.

In the Prehistory hall the exhibits follow human evolution and demonstrate us the improvement of his skills to make tools, weapons, jewels, items made of stone, bone, ceramics, gold, copper, bronze. It is interesting to mention the remnants of prehistoric animals that inhabited those lands – bones and teeth of cave bear, smilodon, deer, South mammoth, wild horse. Pay attention to the unique cave findings dating back to 1,6 million years ago, contemporaries of the initial settlement of Europe – such as an engraved rock and engraved bone, dated back as the oldest found so far in Europe.

Treasury hall is located at the second floor and collects the most precious treasures. It seems non-operational because of the closed door with grid, necessary for the individual security and air-conditioning of the hall. The center of its exhibition are three globally world famous Thracian treasures dating back to three different time periods. They contain golden jewels, amber beads, golden, silver and bronze vessels, abundant decorations for ruler’s horse etc.

Do not miss the unique golden funeral mask of the Thracian king Serres, a great archaeological rarity made in V century BC of 673 grams of pure gold, found in 2004. Quite interesting is the bronze head sculpture, found in the tomb of the Thracian king Seuthes III, one of the newest and most significant archaeological discoveries in Bulgaria, as well as ruler’s golden wreath and golden cup found in the same tomb.

At both floors of museum’s Central hall the exhibited collections show the interactions between great cultures crossing at the Bulgarian lands – Thracian, Hellenic, Roman, Byzantine, Bulgarian, Ottoman.

The exhibits of the Thracian culture are items that show the high social status of their owners - weapons, vessels, jewels etc., dating back to the end of the II millennium - I millennium BC.

The items that belonged to the Greek colony along the shores of the Black sea and the Aegean sea date back to the VI-I century BC and are mainly statues of Gods, ceramics, terracotta wit theatre scenes and jewels.

Quite interesting are the items that demonstrate the merger of the local Thracian and colonial Greek cultures, as well as their important meeting with the Roman civilization that was stepping onto the modern Bulgarian lands.

Typical items have been presented – these are brought by the Roman troops and aristocracy – sports and toilet belongings, utensils for feasting, horse attributes and Roman carriages, clothes, shoes, ruler statues, coins etc. There is evidence of gladiator and circus spectacles, as well as findings showing the earliest Christianity brought here by the Romans in II-III century.

In the Medieval hall there is a real-dimensional copy of the Madara horseman – rocky relief dating back to the early Middle Ages whose size is 23 meters, cut at very significant height directly onto the vertical rock. You could see it right at the wall facing the entrance, and in order to make it to there, you should pass along the solemn alley with columns dating back to the IX century. The hall continues at the second level, where there are wall paintings evidencing the everyday life of Medieval Bulgarian – weapons, jewels and clothing, as well as church items and icons.

Special place is devoted to the inscriptions dating back to the dawn of Bulgarian alphabets’ creation, Cyrillic and Glagolitic scripts. Quite interesting are rulers’ seals and coin specimens dating back to various epochs. One could see items that belonged to the Aristocracy, such as golden decorations, expensive vessels, jewels and coins contained in a treasure dating back to the end of the ХIV – the beginning of the ХV century.