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Museum of Wine
Learn the history of winemaking in Melnik, ogle the 400-plus bottles of wine on display (the dirt vault is especially cool), and work your way through a tasting menu at this fun museum attached to the Hotel Bulgari. Once you find one (or four) wines that you like, fill a bottle and
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History Museum
This brick museum on the main road exhibits Thracian and Roman artefacts from Madara, Veliki Preslav and Pliska. Also displayed are ancient coins, icons and a Shumen Fortress scale model as it was in its heyday.
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Permanent Exhibition of Dimitar Kirov
Housed in a grand old-town mansion where Plovdivs budding artists worked in the 1960s, this special place celebrates the life and works of Dimitar Kirov, who died in 2008 at the age of 73. Arguably Plovdivs most original artist, Kirov produced work marked by bold and vivid uses of
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Planetarium
Bulgaria’s biggest planetarium, about 200m west of Hotel Smolyan, offers a spectacular show (35 to 40 minutes) with commentary in English, French or German at 2pm from Monday to Saturday, and in Bulgarian at other times. The foreign-language shows are for groups of five or more; ot
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National Gallery for Foreign Art
An eclectic assemblage of international artworks is exhibited in this huge, squeaky-floored gallery, ranging from Indian woodcarvings and African tribal masks to countless 19th- and 20th-century paintings, mostly by lesser-known artists. Minor sketches by Renoir and Matisse and wor
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Ledenika Cave
Named after the Bulgarian word for ice (led) , the Ledenika Cave is indeed sheathed in ice for much of the winter, but thaws out in summer, when visitors on guided tours arrive to explore it. While most come on a sunny summer afternoon, a unique time to see Ledenika is for the peri
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Ethnographical Museum
Inside a typical wooden National Revival building, built in 1840 for a wealthy merchant, this museum features exhibitions of folk costumes and traditional weaving.
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Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa
Notable frescoes are the main draw at the Church of Sveta Bogoroditsa, the town’s main cathedral. Located just off ul Ivan Vazov, the church’s large green neo-Byzantine domes distinguish it on the old town’s skyline.
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Danov House
Danov House, dedicated to renowned writer and publisher Hristo Danov and several other Bulgarian authors, contains a re-creation of a bookshop and a National Revival–era classroom. There’s an old printing press, and the gardens offer wonderful views. Enter through a wall up the lan
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Pantheon of the National Revival
The gold-domed Pantheon of the National Revival was built in 1978 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the deaths of 453 local heroes who fought the Ottomans in the Russo-Turkish War. Inside you can see the marble tombs of revolutionary leaders and a small collection of swords a
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Ivanovo Rock Monastery
Around 4km east of Ivanovo, this Unesco World Heritage–listed monastery is built inside a cave 38m above ground. It’s about a 10-minute walk on a good trail through a forest to get there.Built during the 13th century, it houses 14th-century murals regarded as some of the finest in
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Roman Stadium
While the once-huge 2nd-century Roman Stadium is mostly hidden under the pedestrian mall, there are stairways from different sides allowing for at-your-leisure exploration. A new onsite 3D movie (adult/student 6/3 lv; 10 showings daily) offers an immersive experience into the stadi
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Sofia Monument
Erected in 2001 on the site where a gigantic statue of Lenin once stood, this 24m-high monument was created as a new civic symbol for the city. The bronze female figure at the top of the column, holding the wreath of victory in her right hand and balancing an owl on her left arm, r
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Atanas Krastev House
This was where local painter and conservationist Atanas Krastev lived until his death in 2003. His self-portraits and personal collection of (mostly) abstract 20th-century Bulgarian paintings are displayed. The cosy, well-furnished house is strewn with personal mementos, and the te
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National Museum of Military History
This slightly out-of-the-way museum tells the story of warfare in Bulgaria, with most space given to the period from the 1876 April Uprising through to WWI. Weaponry, rebel flags, uniforms and decorations are on show, while outside is an impressive collection of Soviet-made militar
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Peyo Yavorov House
The Romantic poet and revolutionary Peyo Yavorov (1878–1914) briefly lived in a small apartment here; the three rooms here have been restored to their original appearance, while ghoulish mementos include the dress Yavorov’s wife, Lora, was wearing when she killed herself in the stu
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Sveti Sveti Petâr & Pavel Church
This pretty pink church, a little further along from the Archaeological Museum, was built in the 1860s and is adorned with bright modern murals. It houses relics of a 4th-century local saint, Dasius, which were stolen by medieval crusaders and were only returned to the church by t
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Profit
This huge, gloriously titled neo-baroque building dominates the western end of pl Svoboda. Built between 1898 and 1902 by Viennese architects, it was intended as a home for the Dramatic Theatre (which is still here) and several shops. The rents from these were used to fund local sc
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Archaeological Museum
Inside the former Turkish prison, this little museum holds a scrappy collection of neolithic flints, Roman statue fragments, medieval swords and 19th-century rifles. Theres no English labelling and its only worth a quick look if youve bought the combined ticket with the Baba Vida f
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Royal Palace
Originally built as the headquarters of the Ottoman police force, it was here that Bulgaria’s national hero, Vasil Levski, was tried and tortured before his public execution in 1873. After the liberation, the building was remodelled to become the official residence of Bulgaria’s ro
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