Official website: www.muzei-kazanlak.org; www.kazanlakmuseum.com
Adress: 8 P. R. Slavejkov Street, Kazanlak
Phone: 0882512209
E-mail: museum.iskra.kz@abv.bg
Contact person: Christian Zheliaskov
Winter working hours | 9:00 a.m.– 6:00 p.m. |
Summer working hours | 9:00 a.m.– 5:30 p.m. |
The Museum of History “Iskra” – Kazanlak was founded on 29th of June 1901 by the citizens of Kazanlak Peter Topuzov and Ivan Enchev-Vidui as Museum of Antiquities and Arts. Over 50 000 exhibits are stored in the storage units and exhibitions of Museum’s buildings, separated in nine departments – Praehistory, Antiquity, Medieval Ages, Renaissance, New History, Modern History, Ethnography, Kazanlak rose and History of musical culture.
Permanent exhibition of the museum ispresented on different levels, where one can see most attractive, with high scientific and artistic value exhibits from the nine departments. The emphasis of the exhibition is on the collection of bone sickles (the biggest one in South-Eastern Europe); the artifacts from the Thracian city of Seuthopolis and from the Thracian tombs; medieval weaponry; items connected with the fights for establishment of the independent Bulgarian Exarchate and with the Bulgarians’ fights for political independence; costumes from the past lifestyles of the citizens of Kazanlak and exhibits presenting main productions of Kazanlak from the beginning of XX c. with an emphasis on the luthiery.
Visitors can get acquainted with the burial practices of the Thracians and the material remains related to them in the first hall of the exposition. Textual and photographic materials illustrate the information and represent some of the monumental tombs found in the Valley of the Thracian Kings, as well as the grave goods found during the excavations of the necropolis of Seuthopolis (local and imported ceramic vessels, metal artifacts, jewelry, funeral clay wreaths). The Thracians were famous as one of the best warriors in the ancient world – the exhibition shows items of defensive and offensive weapons (armor, swords, spearheads and arrowheads).
The second hall of the exhibition is dedicated to the Odrysian capital Seuthopolis. Illustrative boards acquaint visitors with the history of the research of the city, with its plan and structure, with its fate after the excavations. Among the exhibits are a part of the wall plaster from the throne hall of the Palace, cult hearths (so-called eschars), architectural elements of the decoration of the buildings, many household items from everyday life of the inhabitants of the city. Its trade contacts are illustrated by imported Greek fine table ceramics, as well as amphorae.
The most valuable, attractive and highly artistic artifacts representing the Thracian culture from the Hellenistic era are exhibited in the Treasury hall. It is separated in two parts – in its first part are shown personal belongings and funeral gifts found during the excavations of the burials of members of the Thracian aristocracy. In the second part, special attention is paid to the finds discovered in the tomb under the mound Golyama Kosmatka, where it is believed was buried one of the rulers of the Odrysians and founder of Seuthopolis – Seuthes III.
Around 45/46 AD the lands south of the Balkan Mountains were organized by the Romans into the province of Thrace. At the time of the Early Empire the closest big administrative center in the region was Augusta Trayana. On the territory of the Kazanlak valley there were probably small villages, indirect proofs of which are the excavated tumuli from Roman era.
Among the items are presented artifacts from excavated funerals – ceramic, metal and glass vessels, ceramic lamps, finds connected with the toilet – toilet box, glass flasks, strigils. Elements of chariots (metal wheel rails) and iron chair of the roman administrator are presented.
Permanent exhibition, Hellenistique period, Hall 1
Permanent exhibition, Hellenistique period, Hall 2
Permanent exhibition, Hellenistique period, Treasury Hall
Permanent exhibition, Roman period
The historical narrative in the exposition is divided in two parts – the first one refers to the time of the Hellenistic era and is more specifically related to the Odrysian capital Seuthopolis. Stone artifacts found during the excavations of the settlement are presented. Through them are illustrated the peculiarities of the town planning and architecture.
The second part of the exhibition features finds from the Roman imperial era, with an emphasis on three sanctuaries of the Thracian horseman from the period 2nd-4th c. AD, excavated near the villages of Kran and Viden in the Kazanlak valley. Several more artifacts with inscriptions confirm the presence of a large military garrison of auxiliary troops serving the defensive facilities erected near the present-day town of Shipka.
The tomb is found in 1944. It consists of a corridor and two chambers. It is built of bricks and the walls are covered with exquisite mural decoration. It dates back to the first half of the 3rd century BC. The general concept of architecture and murals and unique style and mastery of the artist make the tomb in Kazanlak one of the masterpieces of Thracian art and ancient World Heritage.
One of the masterpieces of Thracian tomb architecture from the last quarter of the 4th century BC. It consists of a wide corridor, a monumental façade ending with a pediment, an antechamber with a cantilevered vault and a domed chamber. The corridor had a roof of tiles supported by a wooden structure. The round chamber has a built-in Doric order, including seven columns and an architrave. A free-standing Doric column rises in the center of the chamber. All surfaces are covered with white plaster.
It dates back to the last quarter of the 4th century BC. The tomb has a long dromos, covered with tiles just above the façade, a representative façade with plastic decoration and two chambers. The entrances to two chambers are closed with double stone doors. At the bottom of the round chamber there is a funerary bed, on the façade slab of which a wooden bed is depicted in relief. In front of him there is a stone step with legs shaped like lion's paws.
Initially, the mound was built, in which a trench was later dug and three chambers were built – the first one with a cantilevered dome, the second with a cantilevered vault and the last is monolithic. At the end of 4th – beginning of 3rd centuries BC in the last room are laid extremely rich grave goods. Despite they are intact, no human remains were uncovered. After the end of the funeral ceremony the entrances to the individual chambers were walled up, a 13-meter corridor with a flat wooden cover and an external façade were completed, after which the facility was set on fire. In front of the tomb is carefully deposited a bronze head, whose craftsmanship puts it among the masterpieces of Hellenistic monumental bronze sculpture. The portrait similarities with images on coins of Seuthes III support the idea that it represented this Thracian ruler.
A long uncovered dromos leads to an open antechamber and a rectangular chamber covered with a cantilevered vault. The surfaces are covered with white plaster, imitating in relief ashlar masonry. A two-leaf stone door with cassettes closes the entrance between the antechamber and the chamber. A funerary bed is located at the bottom of the chamber. The functioning of the tomb dates back to the last quarter of the 4th century BC.
A complex of 6 premises has been discovered on an area of 100 m2. Initially, a monolithic sarcophagus-like chamber was placed on a rectangular three-step stylobate. Its interior impresses with the coffered ceiling with exquisite murals. At a later stage, 5 more rooms of large granite squares were added to it. Remains of a horse, appliqués for horse harness, a breastplate and two silver vessels were found in one of them. The complex is among the most representative monuments of Thracian tomb architecture from the last third of the 4th century BC.