The Pazardzhik History Museum ( bg, Регионален исторически музей - Пазарджик) is a

history museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...

Pazardzhik Pazardzhik ( bg, Пазарджик ) is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality. The Tatars founded Pazardzhik in t ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. It is located at 15 Konstantin Velichkov Square.

History

is the first to recognize the importance of research and preservation of local

history. In his capacity of representative of the church community in Pazardzhik and of the Plovdiv Mitropolite Bishop for the region he travelled a lot thus being able to visit 113 settlements and to gather valuable historical and ethnographic data. The result of his research was published in the book Geographical – Historical – Statistical description of the Tatar-Pazardzhik Region in 1870 (Vienna). In Chitalishte Videlina community centre he assembled an extensive collection of coins, archaeological artefacts, church manuscripts and documents. Pazardzhik History Museum is one of the leading and oldest museums in

. It was established in 1911 by a decision of the Board of the Videlina Community Centre. On 13 December 1911 the museum in Pazardzhik starts to function officially. In the period during the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the activities at the community centre were put on hold and the curator Dr. Matakiev MD participated in all three wars as army doctor. On 16 June 1924 on community centre celebration in one of the rooms of the building is opened the first exhibition of Ivan Voyvodov museum. Thousands of documents and artifacts most of them one of a kind were donated to the museum at the time thus forming the foundation of the exhibition of the Common People Museum later. The archaeological, ethnographic, historical and geographical research papers were often provided by lead specialists in these areas. In 2000 it was transformed into the Regional Historical Museum with the territory of Pazardzhik region.

Exhibition

The historical exhibitions are housed in a specially constructed building on an area of 1200 m². The museum has its own specialized library, restoration studio and photo laboratory, a stand for the sale of promotional materials and souvenirs and a café.

Archaelogy

This department has an exposition of objects from the material and spiritual culture of

and the region, which includes

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

and

Chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...

vessels, models of dwellings, a rich collection of coins from different eras and a rich collection of

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied t ...

votive tablet An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity; the term is usually restricted to Christian examples. It is given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ''ex voto suscepto'', "from the vow made") or in gratitude ...

s. Exhibits from this era have been found near the village of Yunatsite and the medieval fortress of

Tsepina Tsepina ( bg, Цепина) or Tzepaina ( el, Τζέπαινα) was a castle and town in the western Rhodope mountains, southern Bulgaria, now in ruins. It is from the Dorkovo village in the north-eastern part of the Chepino Valley. Tsepina is a ...

, the village of

Dorkovo Dorkovo ( bg, Дорково; rup, Dorcova) is a village in the Rakitovo municipality, Pazardzhik Province, western Bulgaria. The population of the village is 2,955. Aromanians live in the village. Geography Dorkovo is situated in the western Rh ...

, copies and marble icons of

St. Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

and

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

. They are exhibited in a separate showcase, and the originals are in the Hermitage in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Ethnographic exhibition

This exhibition is located in the largest residential building in

Pazardzhik Province Pazardzhik Province ( bg, Област Пазарджик ''Oblast Pazardzhik'', former name Pazardzhik okrug) is a province in Southern Bulgaria, named after its administrative and industrial centre - the city of Pazardzhik. The territory is ...

from the

Bulgarian National Revival The Bulgarian National Revival ( bg, Българско национално възраждане, ''Balgarsko natsionalno vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and tr, Bulgar ulus canlanması) sometimes called the Bu ...

period, owned by a wealthy Pazardzhik merchant Nikola Hristovich and built by the master Dimitar Boyanin from

Bratsigovo Bratsigovo ( bg, Брацигово ) is a town in Southern Bulgaria. It is located in the foothills of the Rhodope Mountains, on the banks of the Umishka River in Pazardzhik oblast, and is close to the towns of Peshtera and Krichim. Bratsigov ...

in 1850. The exhibits are from the ethnographic regions of

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

Sredna Gora Sredna Gora ( bg, Средна гора ) is a mountain range in central Bulgaria, situated south of and parallel to the Balkan Mountains and extending from the Iskar to the west and the elbow of Tundzha north of Yambol to the east. Sredna Gora i ...

and the

Rhodopes The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in ...

. There are 15 formed in this collection, which are from the area of urban life, clothing, handicraft tools and works, earthworking and woodworking equipment, architectural details, folk musical instruments, objects of folk culture.

History of Pazardzhik in the 15th - 19th centuries

This section displays original exhibits and a rich photo-documentary part that trace the development of Pazardzhik during the Revival, the participation of its population in the national liberation struggles and the

April Uprising The April Uprising ( bg, Априлско въстание, Aprilsko vastanie) was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The regular Ottoman Army and irregular bashi-bazouk units brutally su ...

entered on the Fourth Revolutionary District in 1876. From March 25 to April 22, 2011, the museum's "Revival" hall hosts unique objects, which are kept in the History Museum in

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, ...

- the icon of St. Modestus, burnt and Pope Neycho Paunov, who consecrated the flag of the insurgents and the rifle of Angel Trendafilov Kerelov - a participant in the Revolutionary Committee and a five-hundredth in the April Uprising in Batak.

Lapidarium

This exhibition shows artifacts that are not included in the internal museum exposition - statues, travel columns,

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

s, cult figures made of stone. Architectural elements like bases,

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

s are also shown.

References

History museums in Bulgaria Museums in Pazardzhik Province Pazardzhik Structures in Pazardzhik {{Bulgaria-museum-stub