National Library "St. St. Cyril and Methodius"

After Bulgaria’s Liberation in 1878 and for many years the library has been moving a lot and searching for its constant place. In 1944 the building where it was located, was destroyed by the bombing over Sofia, its collection was buried beneath the remnants yet they managed to be saved. The present building was built in 1953 and it was designed by two Bulgarian architects, Ivan Vasilyov and architect Dimitar Tsolov in a monumental style typical to those times. 

The Library preserves huge book richness. The oldest manuscript that is maintained dates back to the ХI century and is a fragment of written down in Greek onto parchment. And among the collection of Bulgarian Cyrillic manuscripts, the oldest one is the Apostle from Enine dating back to the ХI century.

The two largest Ottoman archives worldwide are in Istanbul and Cairo, and the third one is in Sofia. Strange thing, the way Bulgaria got it. It arrived by wagons from Turkey as old recycling paper yet fortunately its value was measured and the documents were not destroyed. In it, the earliest manuscript dates back to 1017 and especially valuable is the transcript dated 1556 of the work by the Arab geographer Al-Idrisi, as well as richly and abundantly decorated transcript of a Persian essay dated back to the ХVI century. Quite interesting to the historians around the world are the so-called Quadi sijils or detailed protocol books of judicial processes initiated in the Ottoman Empire. 

The collection of portraits and photos stores over 80 000 photos that track various historical stages, yet they are witnesses of photography development in Bulgaria. The collection covers the period from 1860 until the 70-ies of  the ХХ century.

The library stores the personal archives of the most prominent Bulgarian writers, poets and historical personalities (Ivan Vazov, Zahari Stoyanov, Pencho Slaveykov, Geo Milev, Peyo Yavorov, Yordan Yovkov etc.). Very dear to Bulgaria is the personal letter by the poet and revolutionary Hristo Botev to his wife Veneta, written on board of the legendary ship “Radetski” when he and his detachment crossed from Romania to Bulgaria, in order to join the struggles for Liberation. He lost his life in them. The pocket diary and the handwritten notes of Vasil Levski date back to this period, one of the most prominent fighters for Bulgarian freedom and independence.

Additionally, the library has a rich cartographic collection – atlases, maps, globes. Among the maps, quite interesting is the map of the French officer Lapis from the Napoleon’s corps. It was issued in 1822 and became the base for preparing the first Bulgarian map.
The funds contain great musical collection of rare and precious items, including notes, music books, vinyls, audio cassettes, compact disks, musical periodicals etc.

In the Library, by law they collect copies of absolutely all books and periodicals issued in Bulgaria.

Oftentimes, they arrange for temporary and standing exhibitions of precious items that belong to the archive.

Of course, there is a department devoted to book restoration.

On the second floor of the building, you could see a corner with the authentic work desk of Pencho Slaveykov, a prominent Bulgarian poet and director of the Library until 1911. 

Both statues in front of the building are of the brothers Cyril and Methodius, patrons of the library. Back in 855 they created the first Bulgarian alphabet thus set the beginning of an epochal educational bloom via which the Bulgarians started building up their cultural independence and started writing with their own letters, and not with the letters of other alphabets.

The building is surrounded by a beautiful garden with lush greenery and flowers. If you are in the city in April, do not miss the chance of enjoying the beautiful Japanese sour cherry trees that bloom in it, a friendly gift by the Tokai University in Japan.