The museums of Varna

National Maritime Museum Varna
The museum displays a collection of marine guns, the old white house and the Sea Port of Varna and one of Bulgarian first minesweepers. The collection is on show 12 halls. It traces the maritime history of the region of the ancient time to the present day. The most valuable exhibit is the Drazki torpedo boat which earned fame for its crew by sinking the Turkish cruiser Hamidie during the First Balkan War in 1912. thing is the only ship of its kind to be preserved till the present day.
Open: Summer (04 May - 31 October): open daily 10.30 am - 6 pm; Winter (01 November - 03 May): 8.30 am - 5 pm; Closed: winter - Saturdays and Sundays

Natural Science Museum Varna
Natural Science museum in Varna studies and popularizes the geology, flora and fauna of the Black Sea and the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. There are three sections: Geology, Flora and Fauna, the formation and structure of the Earth are shown, as well as the development of life of Earth, Mesozoic and Tertiary fossils, samples of minerals, the main species of the flora along the Black Sea coast, the longoz (swamp forest), type of vegetation and the animal life in the region.The terrarium exhibition is housed in the branch of the museum in the Sea Garden close to the Dolphinarium.Open: 10 am - 5 pm; Closed: summer - mondays; winter - saturdays and Sundays.

Varna Terrarium

About exotic zoo
Exotic Zoo in Varna town is the most varied and unique exposing collection of terrarium animals in Bulgaria. It was created during 1998 by the professional zoologists – R. Trajanov, G. Simeonov, D.Delchev, V. Hainadjieva.

Collection
About 70 species of interesting animals: from the Bulgarian fauna – frogs, lizards, turtles, grass-snake, viper from the whole world – tarantulas, scorpions, chameleons, water monitor, iguana, crocodiles, turtles, snakes (cobra, rattlesnake), pythons, anaconda.1/4 from the species are breeding successfully in the Terrarium.

Attractions
Animal feeding Demonstrations of interesting animals Photos with the exotic inhabitants Competitions for the most exotic pet Presentations during 2002Arahnomania – over 20 species of spidersTurtlemania – over 20 species of turtles, in august.

Services
Educational lectures in schools and kindergartens Making and support of terrariums and aquariums Exotic pets Consultations Tracing routes by professional guides-biologists for excursions, green schools and specialized eco tourism.
Prices:
Adults - 1,20 lv.
Children - 0,80 lv.
Adults - 1,00 lv.
Children - 0,60 lv.
Time: summer 9 - 21h
winter 10 - 19h
Address: Town of Varna, Nature science museum, Sea garden near the “Horizont” restaurant.
Phones: +359 52/30 25 71, +359 88/7710305
E-mail: zoospektrum@hotmail.com

Roman spa
Varna, Black Sea coast
Situated in the south-eastern part of the contemporary city of Varna the Roman spa was the biggest social building from the past discovered in Bulgaria till now.The church St. Atanasii is close to it.It walls comparatively well preserved outline an imposing building which area is 7000 sq. m. Built at the beginning of the 3 rd C., the Roman Spa functioned at the end of the century. The visit of the spa was a part of the citizens everyday life. They spent there many hours most frequently in the afternoon.

Findings
There were also gymnastic halls, recreation halls as well as halls for meetings and conversations with a rich decorated interior. A lot of graphic drawings and inscriptions were found in the galleries. The height supposed of the walls was around 20 m; it has been preserved around 18 m. Some interesting findings have been dated from that time for example the statues of roman gods.The grandeur of the building, the brilliant archeological conception, the richness of the decoration define the spa like an remarkable monument, eloquent proof of the cultural bloom and the prosperity of Odessos during the 2 nd – 3 rd C.The Roman Spa was the biggest in the European part of the Roman Empire.

Museum of Bulgarian Revival

Varna, Black Sea coast
On 27 July Str. in Varna one can find an ancient building related to the cultural and social life of the Bulgarians during the Revival. There were located the school, the church, the library and the municipality of the town till 1878.The school was established on August 12, 1860. It was situated in a private house, but on July 25, 1862 it was moved into a special built edifice. The two brothers Cyril and Methodius who written the Bulgarian-Slavic alphabet were its patrons. On February 14, 1865 a priest named Konstantin Danovski sanctified on the school’s ground floor the first Bulgarian church in the town. In 1866 an independent Girl’s high School opened in Varna, later it was moved into one of the central schools halls. In 1959 the edifice was transformed into a museum – the Museum of the Bulgarian Revival.

First floor
The visitors can see a restored classroom with sandy desks where the children have learned how to write. Thes orders of praise and the black boards of reprobation meant for the pupils excite interest. Тhe original blackboard with the alphabet has been preserved too. Nearby the classroom one can see the church “Saint Archangel Mihail” with some very interesting icons.

Second floor
On the second floor there is an exposition with some original manuscripts and ancient editions from the 18 th and the 19 th C. The engravings from the 19 th C, the lock of the city gates, as well as some antique weapons from the 18 th and the 19 th C. and burial finds of the perished in the Russian – Turkish war attract the attention. There is an exhibition ”Ancient Varna in pictures” who reveals the unique atmosphere of the town from the 19 th and the beginning of the 20 th century.

Aquarium

Varna, Black Sea coast
The Aquarium and the Black Sea museum in Varna were opened in 1932-the first and the only marine biological station in the country. Hundred of fish species are gathered here: molluscs, actinides, crabs, periwinkles as well as species of the fresh water rivers. A special place is occupied by the natural resources derived from the Black Sea, such as sea salt and petroleum.
The Aquarium is divided into three basic sections and a foyer. Different fish species are represented in the first hall, like sea wolf, grey mullet, sting ray, carp, sturgeon. Marine organismes and shells are in the second hall. There is shown also the oceanography of Black Sea and its history of research.The third hall comprises some mammals, sea birds and sharks. The tropical fishes in the foyer such as pirania, guppy and others are of great interest.
Address: Seaside garden
Time: Monday - sunday: 9.00 – 20.00
Phones: 052/63 20 65, 63 20 66
Prices:
Children 2-7 years: 1.00lv
Studensts: 1.60lv
Adults: 2.00lv

The Astronomical Observatory and Planetarium
Launching of the first artificial earth satellite aroused deep interest in Bulgaria and soon many towns established clubs connected with space issues. This enthusiasm spread out in Varna too and in 1960 an astronautics and astronomy club was organized in the city. The idea of establishing an astronomical observatory was developed in 1962, after the visit of the Russian astronaut German Titov. Varna Municipality resolution of 1964 cleared the way for building an observatory the way it looked like until recently. The author of that architectural project was architect Kamen Goranov. In the very process of construction works plans had been changed and a planetarium (star hall) was added to the main structure. On 22 May 1968 the first astronomical complex started operating in Bulgaria. It was named after the Polish scholar Nicolaus Copernicus and included an astronomical observatory, planetarium, and a Foucault pendulum tower. There is a monument of Copernicus in front of the planetarium entrance and its authors are prof. L. Dalchev and P. Atanassov.
Two revolving observation domes have been fixed on the roof of the observatory's third storey and they have been initially equipped with an 80/1200 mm refractor (refracting telescope) and a larger Cassegrain 150/2250 mm system reflecting telescope. Later on, in 1990, these instruments were replaced by Zeiss 100/1000 mm refractor brought in from the town of Gabrovo. The observation platform is equipped with a camera for photographing NAFA 3C/25 satellites and portable telescopes and T3K binoculars are used for open shows.
The planetarium to the observatory is the first facility of its kind in Bulgaria. Its dome reaches 10.5 m in diameter and ZKP - Zeiss Kleinplanetarium projection device (called planetarium) was imported from the former German Democratic Republic. The lecturer can control it from his own control panel and up to 5500 stars can be projected on the dome. In addition to it other projectors can be used to demonstrate the progress of the planets among the stars and a special device can show the solar system as if seen from a distance of 5 billion km.

Foucault pendulum is suspended in the planetarium tower and it manifests rotation of the Earth around its axis. In a small hall below visitors can watch the swinging of the pendulum. In the first years following the building of the complex a comet finder was also installed on the observation platform. During the autumn of 1998 the municipal council decides on reconstruction of the building of the planetarium. Full substitutions of the thermo- and hydro isolation, as well as the water and power installation are planned. The work is slowed down, as some old plans are missing. The reconstruction faces the fact that when built in the 60s, not all construction norms were kept, and now almost only the walls are left. The expectations were that the renewed astronomy complex will meet the large number of visitors during the Sun eclipse in 1999, however financial difficulties delay the project for four years.Finally, on Aug 15th 2002 the renewed building of the Planetarium “Nicolaus Copernicus” was founded. This is a very important event for the Day of Varna, and in the ceremony, in which participants are the Prime minister Simeon Saks Coburg Gotha, the city mayor and regional governor, deputies, businessmen and many citizens. The new project suggests a slight change in the outlook of the observatory. The general architecture plan is unchanged, but the author of the project – arch. G. Savakov, brings modern nuances. The top of the tower of Foucault now has the form of semi-sphere, open to the sky. The Foucault’s pendulum is at a higher level, convenient for observation from visitors, both in- and outside the buildung. For adaptation of vision before a tour the windows overlooking the sea are replaced from a wall of figures; the lobby is vaguely lighted. Under the tower are the computer hall, library and lecture hall. The rooms are widened, and the new fa?ade creates the new attractive look of the building. The decorative lights in the night make the observatory one of the accent spots of the Seaside garden.Since 1971 there has been a branch of the observatory in the village of Avren, located 35 km away from Varna. The dome of the building there is 5.2 m in diameter and below it a Cassegrain 500/8900 cm telescope has been installed.
Besides the planetarium located in the astronomical complex in the Sea Park of Varna, there is a second one in the vicinity of the Naval Academy. It is located in the middle of a park area. Its dome reaches 18 m in diameter and it accommodates 120 seats which makes it the biggest planetarium on the Balkan Peninsula. It was officially opened on 3 March 1986.
The projecting device RFP-DP is of a very high quality and allows for possibilities to represent various astronomical events. It is installed on four axes: a polar axis to demonstrate the 24 hour rotation of the sky; an ecliptic axis to show the paths of the Sun, Moon, the planets, as well as the static stars; a horizontal axis to change the latitude and a vertical axis for the horizontal rotation of the sky. This gives the operator the chance to project the appearance of the sky and various astronomical events as if they were observed from any point on Earth or space. The planetarium close to the Naval Academy is used not only to teach cadets in "Navigation astronomy", but it is also open for public shows. The audience is offered four thematic sessions in nine working languages.

Varna golden treasure
The Varna Chalcolithic Necropolis was accidentally found in October 1972. It is situated about 500 m north of the Varna Lake and about 4 km west of the downtown of Varna. Area from about 7 500 sq. m. was explored and were found more than 3000 golden objects dating back 6000 years ago were discovered in 294 graves. The Varna treasure is the oldest treasure in the world.The whole inventory from some of the most significant graves is exhibited in 6 rooms in Varna Archaeological museum. On both sides of the entrance are represented the graves with masks of human faces shaped out on spot and appliquйd with gold plates. The rich variety of funeral utensils is most expressive in two of the symbolic graves. In grave 4 have been found two unique vessels where the typical for the time decoration of strongly stylized geometrical symbols is fulfilled in golden paint.More than 850 golden objects have been found in grave 36. The type of the objects implies donation dedicated to the stockbreeding deities – two of the gold plates represent animal figures, there are also 30 heads of horned animal and an astragalus for playing with a hole for hanging on a chain. Grave 43 is a complete reconstruction of a man’s grave as found. Impressive is the height of the buried – about 1,70 m. and the funeral inventory with him – 990 pieces of gold objects weighting 1,5 km. numerous copper tools, flint and pottery. This obviously is the grave of a leader or a priest.The Varna Eneolithic Necropolis by the richness of the artifacts remains without an analog among the archeological discoveries of the epoch. Rising incredibly high scientific emotion the discovery turned into a sensation in the scientific world and was announced “the archeological discovery” of the century.

Archaeological Museum Varna
The beginning of Varna Archaeological Museum and its development is connected with the names of the two brothers Herman and Karel Škorpil, Czechs by origin.The first exhibition of the Museum was officially opened in a room of the Girls’ High School on the 11th of June, 1906. Karel Škorpil was elected as director of the Museum and remained in that post till his death in 1944.Since 3 March 1983, the Archaeological Museum Varna has been accommodated in the present building – the only one offering complete possibilities for exhibiting and preserving its riches.The building comprises of a basement area and two floors. It nearly forms a complete square and includes a spacious inner yard. Some of the rooms and the corridors are decorated with wall paintings. A continuous corridor runs throughout the whole building, leading to the exhibition rooms. The exhibition area of the Museum is 2150 sq. m, not including the storerooms, the library and the Educational Children’s Museum.Throughout its existence of over 120 years, archaeologists, members of the Varna Archaeological Museum and its employees have constantly carried out archaeological investigations and excavations on various sites all over Northeast Bulgaria. The Varna Archaeological Museum now holds over 100,000 various objects of the region's past epochs.The total number of the exhibition rooms of the Archaeological Museum in Varna is 32. The permanent exhibitions, which are showed there are: “Prehistory”, “Antiquity”, “Middle Ages”, “Revival Iconography”. The oldest golden treasure is exhibit here as well. It is dated from 4000 years B.C.

Park – Museum Vladislav
It was built in honour of the historical battle in 1444 when Czechs, Poles, Croatians, Hungarians and Bulgarians tried to resist the Turkish invasion in Europe.The mausoleum was built in 1934 on the foundations of an ancient Thracian tomb.There is a very old story about a historic event, dating back to the XV century. On November 10, 1444 a mixed Christian army, comprising of Hungarians, Polish, Czechs, papal knights, Bosnians, Croatians, Bulgarians, Romanians and Routines (Old Russians) fought a heavy battle near Varna against the Turks. Many lives were lost. More than half of the soldiers from the united army, together with the king of Hungary and Poland Vladislav III Yagelo (Varnenchik) perished. In memory of the people, who sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom, on the place of the heroic battle there was built the park-museum Vladislav Varnenchik. The museum is a memorial complex. Plenty of weapons and accoutrements are exhibited in its halls: armours, chain armours, helmets, swords, spears, halberds, arbalests, maces, shields, etc. In the park of the museum there is an original Thracian Tomb, dating back to the IV century A.D. and a mausoleum of King Vladislav Varnenchik.

Navy Museum
The Varna’s Navy Museum is one of the symbols of the city. It is established in an elegant building not far from the sea. There is also an open-air exposition where authentic sea-going vessels are shown. The history of the Bulgarian navy and commercial fleet since 1878 is illustrated on an area of 416 sq.m. in different halls. The park occupying 3000 sq.m. shows diverse military equipment and machinery, the ship-museum “Drazki”, which is one of the most valuable exponent, coast artillery equipment, the Kor Karoly yacht on which the first Bulgarian sail around the earth was made. The museum houses an old collection of naval relics, mostly from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including model ships, uniforms and various ship fixtures.Ethnographic Museum Varna
The Ethnographic Museum of Varna was opened in 1974 in a restored National Revival house, built in 1860. The museum displays folk art, particularly costumes from the region of Varna and shows great diversity of styles. The museum reflects the rich material and cultural heritage of the local population during the second half of the XIX and the beginning of the XX century - catering, crafts, clothes, jewellery, ritual bread, "survachki" (special colour-folded sticks, decorated with popcorns, candies, ribbons, used by children on the first day of the New Year to tap neighbours on the back, wishing them good health, happiness, success in the new year).

Museum of Varna’s History
The building of the museum of Varna’s history was built in 1851 for a Belgian consulate. Later it was turned into a hotel. From the end of the 19 th century to 1929 it was used for a prison.The Museum was established in 1969. Its new exposition was inaugurated on November 22, 1991, situated in three rooms and reveals the city development like a port, as well as cultural, commercial, industrial and medical centre during the period 1878-1939. On the first floor are displayed the main crafts typical for the region: cotton growing, metalwork, but also the construction of a new port, the development of the navigation and the shipbuilding, the first loom from 1902, а printing press from the end of the19 th C., documents and models of the first boats and ships.А smithery, dressmaking and tailoring shop, shoemaker’s atelier, farm implements and machines are restored. On the second floor is shown the transformation of Varna into an international resort and a summer capital of the Bulgarian culture. The cards, the beach articles, the old swimming suits are very interesting. There are exhibited original photos of ancient buildings, plans and maps of VArna , musical instuments, etc. One can be absorbed in the specific atmosphere of the city house and the life after the Liberation on the third floor. There are presented also a hotel room, an eating-house, a pastry shop, lawyer’s and insurance offices, a photographer’s atelier, the first bookshop in Varna.

Museum of Medicine
The Museum of Medicine is the only one on the Balkan Peninsula. Medical plants and herbs are here on display, as well as clothing used in the medical profession from ancient times up till now. In another exhibition hall are shown more than 4000 old medical books.