Museum of History

The first museum in the town of Malko Tarnovo was established in 1983 under the name "Strandja Museum Complex" and is the result of intensive work in the Strandzha-Sakar program. In 2002 it was restructured in the Municipal Historical Museum and until today it is the only cultural institute in the heart of Strandzha Mountain.

The exposition area is placed in four Strandzha Revival houses – monuments of culture which had belonged to rich trade families of the end of the 19th century.

The historical museum presents six expositions – archaeological monuments found in the last decades in the sites around and in the town are arranged in the first one.

There is also an exhibition dedicated to Prof. Alexander Fol (1933 – 2006) – a renowned Bulgarian historian and philologist, the first scientist in the area of Thracian science and a discoverer of many of the archaeological monuments in the region of Malko Tarnovo.

The epitaph monuments are arranged in a lapidarium in the museum yard. Icon painting is presented in a separate exposition of models made by Strandzha artists.

An appointment with Strandzha nature is arranged in the Natural Collection. There are multiple attractions here – a telephone box for “talking” with birds, education in an unusual “language course” and the “Dark room”, in which you can feel the Strandzha night forest.

The exposition entitled “Non-material Cultural Inheritance of Strandzha” represents fire-dancing, the White Mummer (a custom which is only observed in the region of Strandzha), the Strandzha chapels and saints which have been specially honored and celebrated since ancient times. Here you can get acquainted with the more contemporary history of the region through the preserved interesting legends, haidouk stories and biographies of great revolutionaries.

A carpet-weaving workshop functions at the Historical Museum of Malko Tarnovo, where demonstrations of weaving on an authentic loom are presented.