The National Museum of Natural History, Sofia celebrates the International Museum Day

On May 18, 2026, the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia celebrates the International Museum Day with the opening of the temporary exhibition “Selected from the Collections of the National Museum of Natural, Sofia”.

The Director of the museum, Prof. Pavel Stoev, Mr Georgi Pchelarov, Chairman of the Society of Animalists, Florists and Scientific Illustrators (SAFSI) and Ms. Denitsa Peneva, Member of the Board of Directors of SAFSI opened the official exhibition with short greetings to the guests, among whom were Assoc. Prof. Hristo Popov, Director of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum, Dr Katerina Zareva, Head of the Environmental Education and Research Centre at the Zoo — Sofia, Ms. Veselina Kavrakova, Chief Executive Officer of WWF Bulgaria.

The exhibition presents 26 exhibits with their short stories, illustrated by three animal artists from SAFSI — Georgi Pchelarov, Sen. Assist. Dr Asen Ignatov, and Denitsa Peneva.

The history of the oldest museum in Bulgaria, the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia (NMNHS), is closely linked to the history of the Third Bulgarian State and the development of the natural sciences in the country. It began with the arrival of Prince Ferdinand I in Bulgaria in 1887, when he brought from Vienna his valuable collections of tropical birds and butterflies. Since then, these initial collections have been continuously enriched with new specimens from the living and non-living world, now exceeding one million two hundred thousand items.

Today, every exhibit in the museum’s collection has its own story, intertwined with the lives of the discoverers and researchers.

For us, these stories are not completed. They are part of life and they are written every day, with the contribution of new authors — scientists, researchers, and explorers.