Naval Museum, Varna

Overview

The museum presents and promotes the maritime and naval history of Bulgaria. For more than 135 years of existence, tens of thousands of exhibits have been collected. For decades he has been studying our maritime past and strives to maintain in the value system of society respect for the achievements of the Bulgarian navy over the centuries - the sailors, those dedicated to merchant shipping, shipbuilding, ship repair. The beginning of the Naval Museum was set in the Danube city of Ruse in 1883. In the same city in 1879 the navy of the newly liberated Bulgarian Principality was established. The first document for the museum is the report of Lieutenant-Captain Zinovi Rozhestvenski - Commander of the Danube Flotilla, to the Minister of War from 12 (24) October 1883. It announces that the collection of antiquities has already begun and the Maritime Museum is in its infancy. . Together with the newly formed library, the museum will contribute to the "education of the relevant circles" in the Flotilla. In 1885, Pavel Kuzminski, a mechanical engineer, was appointed curator of the maritime museum collection. The first exhibits are mainly samples of weapons and technical aids. Since then, personal weapons and personal belongings have been preserved. The idea of ​​a naval museum in the navy is evolving. At the end of the First World War in Varna there are real prerequisites for its opening: exhibits were collected, implementers and supporters of the initiative were found, a room was provided. The opening of the museum was preceded by a decision of the Management Board of the Bulgarian National Maritime Union (BNMS) in August 1921 to move the museum collection from Ruse to Varna. It was possible to provide two rooms in the then Girls' High School. The initiators are the officers Georgi Slavyanov, Ivan Mihailov, Sava Ivanov. Among the first curators are the names of Protasi Pampulov, St. Tsanev, Jeferov. The prominent archaeologist Karel Shkorpil was involved. The drawings, plans, diagrams and the legendary "Seabed" are due to the Russian Colonel Alexander Poluboyarinov, an archaeologist by education. The official opening and consecration of the Maritime Museum (as it was called then) took place on May 20, 1923, which can be determined as the first public maritime museum in Bulgaria. It was consecrated by Metropolitan Simeon of Varna and Preslav. In the speech of Karel Shkorpil we read: "The purpose of the museum is to study and present to the public the development of Bulgarian seafaring… has [the task] to promote the idea of ​​love for the sea, the needs for its exploration and its enormous benefits. In the museum the visitor will get acquainted with the history of our former military and merchant navy… “. In the following decades, Olga Poluboyarinova was a permanent employee, who was both a curator and a security guard. For a long time the existence of the museum and its survival are due to the public support in the face of BNMS. The agreement established the Museum Fund and through it and voluntary donations supported the museum. By Ministerial Order № 46/10 April 1955, the Maritime Museum entered the system of the Ministry of National Defense under the name Naval Museum as a branch of the Central Museum of the People's Army (now the National Museum of Military History). It is located in the building at 2 Primorski Blvd. the broader meaning - shipping, shipbuilding, events in maritime sports and in marine arts. Today the museum stores collections of naval weapons - mines, coastal and naval artillery, uniforms and decorations, ship models, a large number of photographs and more. The first underwater archeological excavations in Bulgaria are connected with the Naval Museum. The first such expedition was organized in 1959 at Cape Kaliakra. In the following decades, a series of researches were carried out - near Cape Kaliakra, near Shabla, in the Varna Bay, etc. The museum is a holder of the Order of Cyril and Methodius I degree, which was awarded in 1973 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the opening of its exhibition in Varna. Hundreds of thousands of visitors have passed through the outdoor and indoor exhibits, where a total of about 1,200 items are on display. There are years when the museum is one of the most visited: in 1973 a special diploma was awarded to the two millionth visitor (since 1956) - a Soviet citizen, and in the reports from the 80s of the twentieth century we see attendance from 200,000 - 250,000 per year. After the renovation of the building in 2012, the permanent exhibition was completely renovated. Throughout its existence, the museum enjoys the special attitude of the Varna Maritime Guild. There is not a moment in its history in which the care of the command of the Bulgarian Navy is not felt. Today, among the closest supporters of the Naval Museum is the National Maritime Museum Association.