Plovdiv

The treasure consists of nine golden vessels with a total weight of 6.100 kg and was discovered in 1949 near Panagyurishte. The gold beverage set includes a phiale (a dish) and eight rhytons (cups) in the form of different zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figures. The treasure used to be in possession of an unknown Thracian ruler of the Odryssian tribe who reigned at the end of IV c. and the beginning of III c. B.C.

The Regional Archaeological Museum is one of the oldest cultural institutions in Bulgaria, founded in 1882. Seven temporary collections are exposed in the museum: Prehistoric Art, The Panagyurishte Gold Treasure (Thracian Art), Ancient Greek Art, Roman Art, Medieval Art, Bulgarian Revival Art and a Numismatic Collection. The Antiquity Department of the Museum displays more than 5,000 artefacts illustrating the Thracian-Roman Arts. Diverse collection of over 60,000 coins dated VI c. B. C. - XX c. A. D. can be seen in the museum's Numismatic Department.

The exposition of Unification of Bulgaria - 1885 has been arranged in the building of the Province assembly (the Parliament) of Eastern Rumelia, designed by the architect Pierre Montani. The museum exposition was opened in 1985 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Unification of Principality of Bulgaria and East Rumelia. It represents the period beginning with the Treaty of Berlin (1878), till the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885. Original items (personal belongings, award tokens, cold steel and firearms), photos and documents belonging to the participants in the Unification and the Serbo-Bulgarian War are displayed in five exhibition halls on area of 900 sq.m.

The Bulgarian National Revival Exposition is displayed in the House of Dimitar Georgiadi in the Old Town, which is a cultural monument of national importance. The house was built in 1848 on commission of the wealthy Bulgarian craftsman Georgi Kendindenoglou and represents the so-called Symmetric Revival house. The exposition traces back the history of Plovdiv in the period XV-XIX century on the area of ten halls and two salons of the house. The halls on the first floor display the ethnic diversity and economic development of Plovdiv during the Ottoman rule. On the second and third floor there is exposition representing the struggle for independent church and education.

The museum displays a variety of expositions, including those of Minerals, Fishes, Mammals, Amphibians and Reptiles, Invertebrates, Birds and Plants. The biggest and the most diversified aquarium in the whole country with over 216 kinds of fish and octopi and a terrarium with living animal species can be explored. After recent reconstructions, the museum boasts with the first Digital Planetarium in Bulgaria with a capacity of 50 seats, which carries the visitors into the atmosphere of nature and the outer space. On September 7, 2017, a new tropic hall will be opened. There will be observed 15 living species of butterflies, as well as over 40 exotic plants.

The Tropical Hall of Regional Natural History Museum presents over 15 living species of tropical butterflies can be observed in the exposition hall decorated with over 40 exotic plants. The Tropical hall can be explored alongside the other expositions of the museum, such as the Aqarium, Terrarium and the Digital planetarium.

The exposition is housed in the building of the Young Girls’ College, designed and built in 1881, under the guidance of the architect Joseph Schnitter. The collection presents the most diverse artistic works from the early development of Bulgarian art, with over 200 original pieces of artwork. It is arranged chronologically on two floors. The works of our great Revival artists before and in the first years after the Liberation are displayed. At present the City Art Gallery of Plovdiv holds 7210 works, of which 2310 – paintings, 2549 – graphic works, 545 – sculptures and applied arts works, 574 – icons and 1234 – works of Mexican art.

The exhibition spaces are housed in a building with a typical urban architecture from the beginning of the 20th century. In the halls on both floors there are presented temporary exhibitions relating to the anniversaries of outstanding Bulgarian artists, as well as the historical events, as well as the cultural life of Bulgaria. Exhibitions by foreign artists, such as one’s by children, are also presented here.

The Skobeleva house is a Revival house in Plovdiv, built in 1860 by Kostadin Kaftandzhiyata, a prominent Bulgarian from Stara Zagora. After the liberation the mother of gen. Mihail Skobelev, Olga Skobeleva (1823-1880), lived here until her death. She is known for her charity for helping the bulgarian victims of the Turkish rout in southern Bulgaria during the April Uprising and the Liberation War. At her place of death near Tsarigradsko shose Blvd. stands a memorial park. In 2003 in the Skobeleva house is arranged a constant exposition, devoted to the work of the famous Plovdiv artist Georgi Bozhilov - The Elephant (1935- 2001). On the northern side there could be seen a picturesque panel and a mosaic of another famous painter - Dimitar Kirov, which he dedicates to his friend. The turbot of the house from the side of Saborna Str. is decorated with memorial mural, a painting and a mosaic, designed by Dimitar Kirov, engraved in Georgi Bozhilov’s memory.

In his works Tsanko Lavrenov demonstrates a deep sincere devotion to the monuments of the Bulgarian Renaissance. His compositions with themes from Plovdiv and Veliko Tarnovo, with themes from old monasteries of the Holy Mountain of Athos, Rila and Rhodopes, indicate his desire to connect with the natural architectural forms in the name of their respectable historicity. Although almost all the characteristics of his art are typical for modernism and are not unknown to European art of that time, put together in his decorative graphic illustrations, they present a different approach to creativity.

Encho Pironkov’s style is typified by strong expressive gesture with a sense of spontaneity and naturalness. It fragments pictorial space and fits in it figures holding ceremonial position. Dealing with these compositions is dramatically enhanced by the peculiar mystique of the message and the typical strong opposition to the cut-off in them. This art has evolved and been enriched contemporary plastic ideas and opinions, thus forming part of a new mythology in Bulgarian painting. The gallery displays 45 works donated by the artist, covering various periods of his creative development.