History Museum of Baltchik
The Historical Museum of Balchik is the principal museum institution of the town of Balchik, located at 2 Dimitar Zhelev Street in the centre of Balchik, in Balchik Municipality, Dobrich Region. It is the successor of the first museum in Southern Dobruja and one of the oldest museum institutions on the Northern Black Sea coast. The beginnings of museum work in Balchik date to 1907, when the Czech-Bulgarian archaeologist and museum pioneer Karel Škorpil conducted the first systematic excavations in the town, uncovering the tomb of a Roman physician-priest from the 2nd century AD — the richest mausoleum discovered on the territory of Bulgaria in terms of monuments dedicated to medicine and ritual practice. In 1937, under Romanian rule, a dedicated museum-gallery building was opened to the public, making Balchik among the first towns in the region to have a formal museum institution. Following the return of Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria in 1940, the Romanian authorities removed all movable cultural assets. In 1961 a new historical-archaeological museum collection was established in the building of the Paisiy Hilendarski Community Centre, founded by Klara and Petko Petkovi. In 1969 the museum received the status of a state museum, and today its fund holds over 20,000 archival units — compared to 5,183 at its founding. In 2013 the permanent exhibition was fully renewed and reopened with a modern vision, with funding from the America for Bulgaria Foundation and the American Research Center in Sofia. The museum's structure encompasses four sites: the Main Exhibition, the Ethnographic House, the Revival Complex (which includes the Mutual School and the Church of St Nicholas the Wonderworker), and the Teketo site. The Main Exhibition is presented in three halls: the first two halls on the ground floor cover prehistory and antiquity, the Byzantine period, and the First and Second Bulgarian Empires; the third hall is dedicated entirely to the finds from the Temple of Cybele — marble sculptures, epigraphic monuments, and architectural details from what archaeologists describe as "the discovery of the century." Additional halls present photographs and documents relating to the life of the town from the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878 to the return of Southern Dobruja in 1940, and artefacts including glass, ceramics, coins, and other objects discovered in the surrounding region. The Art Gallery of Balchik, housed in the former high school building, is also a branch of the Historical Museum. The museum organises archaeological research, ethnographic expeditions, and other scholarly activities, and is an active presence in the cultural life of the town and the wider region.
