New Exhibition Opens at National Archaeological Museum

Atanas Malakchiev

The Nineteenth National Archaeological Exhibition "Bulgarian Archaeology 2025" is presented to journalists at the National Archaeological Museum. Pictured: A coloured glass rhyton (BTA Photo/Hristo Kassabov)

Sofia,

12.02.2026 18:51

(BTA)

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BG ARCHAEOLOGY

The Bulgarian Archaeology 2025 exhibition opened on Thursday at the National Archaeological Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The exhibition has been organized by 19 regional, historical and archaeological museums across the country with more than 300 findings from over 31 sites presented. The exhibition is organized chronologically, beginning with prehistory with the earliest sites dating back to the distant fifth millennium BCE. The organizers note that the Iron Age and the development of Thracian societies and aristocracy are strongly represented, as illustrated by studies of burial mounds and necropolises from the early and late Iron Age and the early Roman period. Another highlight of the exhibition is a coloured glass rhyton.

"Such exhibits are extremely rare, and we have never before shown anything like it in the annual exhibition," said Assoc. Prof. Kamen Boyadzhiev, curator of the exhibition, speaking to BTA about the aforementioned rhyton. Boyadzhiev revealed that it was discovered at an excavation site alongside a gas pipeline in the Blaskovo village area of the Varna Region. According to Boyadziev, the rhyton symbolizes the horn of plenty and there are few such finds worldwide that are as well preserved or feature such colourful polychrome decoration. He added that the presentation of the exhibits involves a tremendous amount of work by his colleagues in the field and the restorers in a very short timeframe, so only certain highlights are presented in this exhibition.

Assoc. Prof. Hristo Popov, PhD, director of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NAIM-BAS) stated that the exhibition focuses more on rescue archaeological research than on regular, planned research. He explained that archaeological sites along the routes of major infrastructure projects had been studied, including gas pipelines along the Struma River in the Pernik area and Rupcha in the eastern Balkan Mountain range, as well as the northern parts of the Burgas Region and the southern and southwestern parts of the Varna Region. Other sites include those along the Chirpan and Plovdiv railway infrastructure.

The organizers also note that the opening of the exhibition will feature an award ceremony for achievements in the field of archaeology.

/DD/MR/