National Museum of Natural History

Founded in 1889 as Natural History Museum of Prince Ferdinand I the Natural Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Science is the first and the richest natural history museum at the Balkan Peninsula. In 1947 it became a part of the Institute of Zoology, and in 1974 the National Museum of Natural History was transformed into a self-dependent institute in the BAS’s system. The museum has 16 halls where different theme collections and expositions are presented – group in mineralogy, birds, amphibia and reptilia, fishes, paleontology and historical geology, mammalia, insects, non-insects invertebrates, and flowers. One of the Birds halls presents a part of the exotic fauna of rare birds inhabiting Asia, Africa, Australia, North and South America. The big Mammalia hall exposes animals of different groups (primates, carnivorous, cloven-hoofed, solid-hoofed) and different continent. The plants include herbs, spring plants, alpine plant, high-mountain plants and trees from Bulgaria. The exposition of dry plants in their natural habitat is of particular interest for the visitors. The Museum is located in the center of Sofia, as the expositions may be visited each day and the guests could enjoy over a million specimens of animals, plants and minerals.