Museum of Bulgarian Revival, Varna

The Museum of Bulgarian Revival is a compact, story-rich branch of the Varna Regional History Museum. It sits in a late-19th-century house with its focus on the Revival era, when Varna’s port and civic institutions took shape and Bulgarian national consciousness gathered momentum in 18th–19th centuries.

The museum originated in 1959 with its first exhibition, hosted in a restored building connected to Varna’s first Bulgarian school, church, and community centre. Although the displays are now housed in a different residence, those early roots are significant, as the original location united the very institutions-school, church, and community centre-that shaped the city’s revival.

The exhibits trace Varna’s importance as a Black Sea port and its role in the Russo-Turkish wars, before shifting to the city’s later economic and civic development. Among the standout features are a recreated 19th-century classroom, the “Old Varna in Pictures” display, and collections of everyday items, textiles, weapons, and religious icons. Another particularly impressing artifact is a sabre linked to the revolutionary Hadzhi Dimitar.