The Historical Museum – Isperih

The beginning of the museum work in Isperih is considered to be the founding of the Khan Omurtag Archaeological Society in 1927. Over time, a small collection of archaeological artifacts has been collected. Over the years, the local history club has enriched it with new exhibits. The citizens and guests of Isperih got the opportunity to see them in the Permanent Museum Exhibition created in 1974. Since the discovery of the Thracian Royal Tomb near the village of Sveshtari in 1982, the region of Isperih has become a center of complex research under the GETICA Project. On May 21, 1984, the museum collection achieved status of an independent museum and its first director became Yordan Stefanov. Since 1985, the Thracian Royal Tomb has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since 1988, the “Cultural and historical Zone, covering the Sboryanovo area and the territory between the villages of Malak Porovets and Sveshtari” has been declared a Historical and Archaeological Reserve.  

The structure of the Museum includes nine departments: Archeology, Numismatics, Ethnography, History of Bulgaria XV-XIX centuries, New and Recent History, Art Department, Administrative and Economic Department, Scientific Archive as well as a Restoration Laboratory. The Museum has 31 employees: museum specialists, guides, a restorer, technical specialists and security. More than 30,000 museum items are stored in the funds. The Historical Museum – Isperih manages and presents: Ethnographic House, Art Gallery and Museum Exhibition in Isperih; Demir Baba Tekke, Reception Center with a Complex of Thracian Tombs and Archeological Bases in Sboryanovo Archaeological Reserve; the Windmill near the village of Belintsi. The cultural institution hosts scientific forum entitled “Autumn Readings – from the Find to the Museum Showcase”, which brings together museum specialists and historians from the country and abroad. October of each year the Museum is the initiator and organizer of the European Museum Night and Days of Cultural and Historical Heritage of the Municipality of Isperih, part of which is the National Corn Fair. A priority in the museum activity is the communication with the youngest visitors – the students, which is based on common experience in the children workshops.