What you will see in the museum

A rich archaeological exhibition — the museum presents the millennia-old history of the region: from prehistory and antiquity, through Roman times, Thrace, the Middle Ages, to the modern and contemporary period.

Significant historical and ethnographic collections — including ancient objects, numismatic exhibits, antique weapons, items of daily life and culture, early printed books.

Special artifacts and treasures — such as the Borovo Treasure, a silver treasure from the 6th–5th century BC; examples of ancient Thracian and Roman culture revealing the region’s ancient wealth.

Exhibitions tracing the development of Ruse and its surroundings — their culture, daily life, economy, and social evolution through the centuries.

Interesting facts and legends

• The oldest museum collection in Ruse was started by teachers and students at the end of the 19th century, who personally gathered the first archaeological and natural science finds from the area.

• The museum building — formerly the district administration from 1882 — was designed by Friedrich Grünanger, one of the most respected architects of the Bulgarian Principality. According to local legend, he shaped the facade to resemble the impressive administrative buildings along the Danube in Austria-Hungary.

• The museum preserves some of the most valuable Thracian and Roman artifacts in Northern Bulgaria, including the Borovo silver treasure — about which locals say it remained “hidden underground for years out of fear of invasions.”

• According to museum specialists, some of the old exhibits “carry their own stories” — for example, items donated by Ruse families in the 1930s, often accompanied by family legends so that they would “not be lost in time.”

• A local legend says that during the clearing of the area around the fortress Sexaginta Prista (part of the museum complex), workers often found small coins believed to “bring luck, as long as you do not take them out of greed.”

• The museum also keeps artifacts from the Medieval city of Cherven — once one of the strongest fortresses in the region, which local lore describes as a “city of brave voivodes and unbreakable stones.”