The Pazardzhik Museum celebrates a centenary jubilee

On December 13, 1911, the Videlina house of culture saw “the establishment of a museum that contains antiques of educational and historical significance, collected in the city, the region, and other places within the Kingdom”.
Today, the Pazardzhik Museum is one of the leading and oldest museums in Bulgaria. Its profile is general history and it has the following departments: Archaeology, History of Bulgaria – 15th–19th centuries, Ethnography, Modern history, Contemporary history, and Reserve collection and scientific archives.
The historical exhibitions are occupying 1,200 sq. m. in an expressly built building. The museum owns also a specialized library, a restoration workshop, and a photo lab; it has a stand selling publicity items, souvenirs, and coffee.
In the Archaeology department, may see different specimens of the material and the spiritual culture of Pazardzhik and the region: a model of a dwelling, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic ceramic vessels from the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic, a wealth of idolatrous sculptures, cult objects, antique, medieval, and Western-European coinage, weapons, ornaments, and one of the richest collections of Thracian Horseman votive reliefs.
In the History of Bulgaria – 15th–19th centuries hall, original exhibits and a multitude of photographic documents let tracking the development of the region throughout the Revival period and the involvement of its population in the national-liberation struggles and the April Uprising (1876).
The last three halls are displaying the history of Pazardzhik – administrative, economic, and cultural – after the Liberation (1878) up to the mid-twentieth century.
The ethnographic exhibition is set up in Pazardzhik’s largest residential building from the Revival period. It was built in 1850, in the style of the Plovdiv’s Revival house. It was declared national architectural and artistic monument of culture. The exhibition presents the wealth and the variety of the traditional folk culture from Bulgaria. The main accents of the exhibition are on traditional residential and public architecture, residential interior design, home-based and professional crafts, folk costume, jewellery and fabrics, folk art, celebrations and customs. Particularly interesting and attractive is the folklore hall. Musical performances using the 19 exhibited different instruments characteristic of the Pazardzhik area can be heard there.
Konstantin Velichkov’s natal house is converted into a museum. Konstantin Velichkov (1855–1907) is an eminent Revival personality: educator, active partaker in the national-liberation campaigns, politician and statesman in post-Liberation Bulgaria, writer, translator, and painter. The building is proclaimed an architectural, artistic, and historical monument of culture of national importance. The restored interiors of the house are part of the exhibition. The abundant photo documentary component reveals Velichkov’s family milieu and personality, and his contribution to Bulgarian history and culture. The museum is one of the well-established centres of cultural events and commemorations. The traditional Velichkov’s Days have a major standing in the city’s cultural calendar.
This year, in honour of the centenary of the Regional Museum of History in Pazardzhik, a festive programme will be presented.
15, Konstantin Velichkov Square
ph.: (+359) 34 443 113, 34 443 108
fax: (+359) 34 443 144
e-mail: museumpz@abv.bg
Web: http://museum-pz.com