Regional Museum of History

The Regional History Museum in the town of Kardzhali is one of the largest museums in Southern Bulgaria. He is housed in a building constructed at the beginning of the 20th century. The museum looks out on a lovely park that is home to over 30 plant species native only to Bulgaria. The museum site was originally intended as an Islamic religious school (a madrasa), but it never served in that capacity. From 1934-1947, it was used for military purposes. After that, it became a secondary school and then a campus affiliated with Plovdiv University. It was gradually converted to a museum between 1980 and 1983. In 2005, by order of the Ministry of Culture, the museum building was declared a nationally important architectural landmark.

The Historical Museum of Kardjali is housed in an interesting building from 1930. The museum has 3 departments and exposures disposed on 3 different floors:

Archeology

It is located on the first floor in 9 exhibition halls. The exposures covered the period from the Neolithic (New Stone Age) to the late Middle Ages of Bulgaria. There are displayed tools, prehistoric idol sculptures, objects of everyday life, the Thracian ritual objects and bronze sculptures, coins, medieval jewelry, etc. There are also reproductions of a home-workshop from the Eneolithic civilization, a Thracian tomb and a machine for wall breaking.

Nature

The division is located in 4 halls on the second floor. Here are displayed examples from the living and nonliving (minerals, non-metallic materials, stones) nature from the region of Eastern Rhodopes. Below are the fossils of clams, snails, sea urchins, corals and others. Particularly valuable exhibit is the unique fish fossil - the only one in Southeast Europe.

Ethnography

The Ethnographic department is located in 9 rooms on the third. The exposition covers the lives of people in the region over the past 2 centuries. There are shown Rhodopian costumes, jewelry and objects from everyday life, etc. There are also reproductions of various craft workshops (dairy, coal, cotton and homespun workshops), and the rituals and customs that allow visitors to touch the lifestyle and culture of the population from the Eastern Rhodopes from the end of the XIX century until the middle of the XX century.