National Archaeological Museum, Bulgaria

42°41′46.79″N 23°19′28.43″E / 42.6963306°N 23.3245639°E / 42.6963306; 23.3245639

National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
(Национален археологически институт с музей при Българска академия на науките)

Interior of the first floor
Established	1892
Location	Sofia, Bulgaria
Type	Archaeological museum and research institute
Director	Hristo Popov
Website	http://naim.bg/en/home/ Еntrance tickets and working time National Archaeological Museum admission prices: Adults: 10 lv Students: 2 lv School, student or children’s group visits (more than 10 people): 1 lv Parent(s) with children aged up to 16 years old (group ticket): 10 lv People with physical disabilities: free admission ICOM Card-Holders: free admission Free admission days: • Second Thursday of the month (valid for pensioners) • Last Sunday of the month (valid for all visitors) Guided tour: • in Bulgarian: 10 lv • in English: 20 lv Museum’s opening hours: Summer opening hours (May-October) 10 am-6.00 pm (open every day) Last admission – 30 minutes before museum closing time Winter opening hours (November-April) 10 am-5.00 pm (closed on Monday) Last admission – 30 minutes before museum closing time The National Archaeological Museum is closed on 25 December and 1 January every year. Opening hours on 24 and 31 December: 10 am - 2 pm.

The National Archaeological Museum (Bulgarian: Национален археологически музей, Natsionalen arheologicheski muzey) is an archaeological museum in the centre of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It occupies the building of the largest and oldest former Ottoman mosque in the city, originally known as Koca Mahmut Paşa Camii. The construction started in 1451 under grand vizier Veli Mahmud Pasha but due to his death in 1474 the mosque has been completed in 1494. The museum was established as a separate entity in 1893 as the National Museum directed by Czech Václav Dobruský with its headquarters in the former mosque that previously housed the National Library between 1880 and 1893.

The museum was officially opened and inaugurated in 1905, as by then all archaeological exhibits previously kept all over the city were moved there, in the presence of Knyaz Ferdinand of Bulgaria and Minister of Enlightenment Ivan Shishmanov.

Several additional halls and administrative buildings of the museum were constructed in the following years, which continues to use the historic stone building of the old mosque despite the often unfavourable conditions, notably the humidity in the summer. The museum has five exhibition halls: Central Hall, Prehistory, Middle Ages, Treasure, and a special temporary exhibition. It is managed by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.