Regional Museum of History of Pazardzhik

Stefan Zahariev is the first to recognize the importance of research and preservation of local Pazardzhik 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). On 13 December 1911 the museum in Pazardzhik starts to function officially. 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 artefacts 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. Eminent Bulgarian scientists visited the museum as part of their work such as Professor G. Katsarov, Professor B. Filov and Professor Doctor Iv. Velkov, who published in national and foreign journals information about the artefacts in the museum funds. The permanent museum exhibition is housed in several halls each dedicated to a specific time and topic. An extended period of time is covered from Prehistory to modern Bulgarian history. The Ethnographic Exhibition is accommodated in an authentic Vazrazhdane period house and the birth home of Konstantin Velichkov harbours the artefacts related with his life and work. Archaeology Hall offers to the visitors artefacts related with the material and spiritual culture of Pazardzhik and its surrounding region: reconstructed Neolithic house interior, Neolithic and Chalcolithic anthropomorphic and zoomorphic clay vessels, wide variety of ritual statues and objects, antique and medieval coins, weapons, adornments and one of the richest collections of votive tables of the Thracian horseman. The museum building provides accessible environment to people with disabilities.