The National Museum of Natural History (NMNHS) has a history of almost one hundred and twenty years. It is the oldest museum in Bulgaria and the oldest and richest among the natural history museums on the Balkan Peninsula. It was founded in 1889 by the Royal Prince Ferdinand under the name Royal Prince’s Natural History Museum. At first it used to accommodate Prince Ferdinand’s personal collections of birds, mammals and butterflies. The first curator of the museum was the court doctor Dr Paul Leverkühn who was a famous ornithologist. He organised the first exposition in 14 halls on two floors in an old building where today’s museum stands and it was opened for visits in 1907. That year the first and until now the only full catalogue of collections was issued listing several thousand exhibits of that time.

Until WW I the museum added collections mainly from abroad, given as present or bought from famous foreign collectors and travellers: Count Amede Aleon, Emil Holoub, Stewart Baker, Joseph Haberhauer, Julius Milde, etc. In the next decades almost all private collections of animals and plants were contributed by the first Bulgarian geologists such as Nikola Nedelkov, Petar Chorbadjiev and Dimitar Yoakimov, Ivan Neychev, Ivan Uroumov and Anany Yavashev, Prof. Georgi Zlatarski and Rafail Popov.

www.nmnhs.com

Address: 1 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria

Phones (+359 2) 987 41 95
Tickets: (+359 2) 988 51 15 (ext. 706)
Fax (+359 2) 988 28 94
e-mail: contact@nmnhs.com

Opening times:
for the scientific departments: Mon — Fri 08:30 — 17:00
for the exhibitions: every day from 10:00 — 18:00, except on 1 January, 3 March and 25 December
— tickets can be bought until 17:15

How to get to the museum?
Public transport:
— Subway — ‘Serdika’ stop
— Bus lines 9, 94, 280, 306 — ‘Sofia University’ stop
— Troleybus line 9 — ‘St. Alexander Nevski Square’ stop
— Troleybus lines 1, 2, 4, 11 — ‘Sofia University’ stop
— Tramway line 20 — ‘National Opera’ stop
— Tramway lines 1, 2, 7 — ‘Sveta Nedelya Square’ stop

Admission fees
— Adults: 4.00 BGN
— Children under 18: 1.00 BGN
— Students: 2.00 BGN
Others
— People with disabilities: 1.00 BGN
— Retirees: 2.00 BGN

Guided tour [upon request by phone (02) 988 28 94]: 20.00 BGN