Varna Educational museum is situated on the ground floor of the Archaeological museum. It was established in 1986 by the archaeologists and museum curators Dimitar Dimitrov and Ivan Ivanov.
They created the first in Bulgaria museum for children that had its own exposition and a hall for educational purposes. It was their ambition to expand kids’ knowledge of the past. To provoke greater interest towards history and archeology by creating a non-traditional, attractive and at the same time accessible expositional area, where visitors (small and grown-up) could enjoy direct contact with museum exhibits. ‘I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand’– this ancient Chinese proverb well illustrates the idea of the museum founders. That is why they chose to name the museum Educational, not just children museum.
The exposition depicts life of people in prehistoric age and the way of life of Slavs and Proto-Bulgarians. Three types of dwellings are on display – prehistoric, Slavonic semi-dugout and Proto-Bulgarian yurt; tools from different ages – fist wedges, stone axes, bows, arrows, battle spear, hard-wear tools, etc. A reconstruction of a vertical loom is shown, as well as a millstone for grinding grain and a hand pottery wheel. All objects are replicas of genuine pieces and can be used.
In those first years the training programs of the Educational museum were focused mainly on specialized exposition. Having closely studied the achievements in experimental archeology, curators organized several demonstrations, such as fire lightening, bone drilling, working with hand pottery wheel, etc. These activities are still raising interest in visitors, making them not merely observers, but also active participants.
During that period, an extensive archive of popular science film covering history and natural sciences was complied. Additionally, public screenings were established.
In the nineties, under the slogan ‘in museum we could learn while having fun’, educational programs started to develop, thus presenting the whole exposition of the Archaeological museum. They were worked out on several levels, covered different topics and corresponded to the age characteristics of students. These educational projects combined playing with scientific information, demonstrations with various activities for children (completing of worksheets, drawing, working with clay).
You can get to Varna Educational museum by public buses 7, 12, 31, 31А, 148 to bus stop “Muzeya”, and public buses 9, 14, 409 to bus stop "Sevastopol".
Admission:
Adults - 3.00 € / 5.87 lv.
Students - 3.00 € / 5.87 lv.
Children under 7 years old - Free
Giving a talk - 10.00 € / 19.56 lv.
Days determined by Order of the Council of Ministers or Varna Municipality - Free
Opening hours:
Tuesday - Saturday: 10:00 - 17:00hrs
Days off: Sunday and Monday
Contact details:
41 Maria Luisa Blvd., Archaeological museum
Tel.: +359 52 681 039, 052 52 681 060
e-mail: educational@museumvarna.com
www.museumvarna.com
