Регионален Природонаучен Музей

Regional Natural History Museum

Useful Information

Location:	Str. Hristo G. Danov 34, Plovdiv (42.149078, 24.742792)
Open:	All year Mon-Fri 8:30-17, Sat, Sun, Hol 9-17. Last entry 15:30. Planetarium: 10:30, 12, 13:30, 15, 16. [2021]
Fee:	Adults BGN 6, Students BGN 4, Children (0-6) BGN 1. Tropic Hall: Adults BGN 4, Students BGN 3, Children (0-6) BGN 1. Planetarium: Adults BGN 10, Students BGN 7, Children (0-6) BGN 3. Groups (5-50): Adults BGN 7, Students BGN 6.
Classification:	Cave and Karst Museum
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Регионален Природонаучен Музей, ул. Христо Г. Данов 34, Пловдив 4000, България, Tel: +359-32-633096. E-mail: Regional Natural History Museum, Str. Hristo G. Danov 34, Plovdiv 4000, Bulgaria, Tel: +359-32-633096. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1951	the Executive Committee of the Town Council suggested the establishment of a Natural History Museum.
1952	collections moved to the former town-hall building.
1954	renovation of building started.
05-SEP-1955	museum opened as a temporary exhibition.
08-MAY-1960	first permanent exhibition opened.
2006	renamed Regional Natural History Museum.

Description

The Регионален Природонаучен Музей (Regional Natural History Museum) was founded in 1952 to give various collections of minerals, fossils, animals, plants, and other natural materials a new home. The former town-hall building was used to collect various neglected collections suffering deterioration. The building was renovated and the collections sorted, which was actually quite difficult because many of the specimen labels had been lost and it was difficult to identify their species and origin. The museum was opened in 1955 due to public pressure, with a temporary exhibition of the most impressive items. This exhibition was a great success and attracted tens of thousand visitors. The museum worked on permanent exhibitions which were from 1960. The sections are Evolution in organisms and inanimate nature, Plants, Invertebrates, and Vertebrates – fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The sections Geology, Edible and poisonous mushrooms in Bulgaria, Protected natural sites and plants in Plovdiv region, and Minerals from the Rhodope Massif followed. It became the second biggest museum in the country.

So far this is a normal natural history museum, but the geological and mineralogical exhibitions contain many cave related items. There are speleothems in the mineralogical section and bones from caves in the fossil section. But the museum also has an artificial cave with bats and a cave bear skeleton in the Mammals exposition. In the Paleontology exhibition a section is dedicated to the caves and their content. It includes bones of cave bears, mammoth teeth and hairy rhinoceros, as well as tools from prehistoric people.