Ethnographic Museum in Elhovo

Established in 1958, the Ethnographic Museum in the town of Elhovo examines, keeps and makes popular the variety of the local ethnographic inheritance of the community and the entire region around the mountains Strandja and Sakar. The museum is housed in two buildings in the center of the town built in 1933 and incorporated in 1960s into a single building. One of Bulgaria’s most interesting and original ethnographic collections is presented here. The museum keeps over 20,100 exhibits. Its collection is showed in four halls. The first one presents the main occupations of the local people from the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century – farming, vine-growing, tobacco production, stock-breeding, hunting and fishing, as well as some traditional crafts – such as copper-smithery and tailoring. The second hall shows the typical houses and interior decoration from the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century. The next hall exhibits the traditional apparel of the people inhabiting the southeastern part of Bulgaria – children’s, men’s and women’s clothes, casual and formal. The fourth hall is set for some traditional holidays and customs, as marriage, kukeri, Christmas caroling and other folk rituals presented by their specific clothes and accessories, as well as by many pictures. Each year some 16,000 visitors come here to enjoy the attractive exhibition. As of 2003 the Ethnographic Museum in Elhovo is officially listed as one of the 100 National Tourist Sites under number 100.