Address: "Primorski" Blvd. No. 2, Varna 9000
Open Summer Time: 10am - 6pm - Closed: Sunday

Open Winter Time: 10am - 5pm - Closed: Saturday and Sunday

please wait while loading

please wait 30 seconds while loading and if you are not on Broadband it may take longer.

This is a mobile multiple image projector. If it does not work on your system, view by clicking on the thumbnails listed below.

   The indoor exhibition of the Naval museum occupies an area of 360 m².  With the help of selected exhibits, pictures, & documents, the history of the Bulgarian navy is shown from its foundation in 1879 to the present day. Visitors can visit 12 halls and see the original ship remains like ancient anchors,  figure-heads,  sailors' and officers' uniforms,  scale models,  flags, and insignia..

     There are over 100,000 exhibits, collections of mines, cannons, anchors, a huge variety of military hardware in all shapes and sizes., and the sailing yacht Kor Karoli on which Georgi Georgiev was the first Bulgarian to sail single handed  around the world.

     In the open-air exhibition, one can see the legendary torpedo-boat "Drazki" or "Druski" (Audacious) which earned fame for its crew by sinking the Turkish cruiser Hamidie during the First Balkan War in 1912 and thought to be the only ship of its kind to in existence today.

 

  Her descendent, the modern day Bulgarian frigate Drazki is currently assigned to NATO.

 

   Nowadays the Naval Museum, due to space limitations, consists of expositions in two buildings. The building which houses the Naval Museum was built at the end of the last century. It is an architectural monument with Renaissance elements and some baroque borrowings.
   The Museum Exposition is on two floors. Models of Bulgarian battle ships are displayed as well as original torpedoes and a collection lighthouse optics. There is also a collection of ancient anchors, figureheads, mines and uniforms of naval officers and navy men.
    A special showroom is dedicated to the participation of the Bulgarian Navy in the Balkan War (1912-1913) and to its glorious victory. There is a section devoted to the distinguished poet and navy man Nikola Vaptzarov. The Naval Academy in Varna is named after him.

 

please wait while loading Photos by Chusseau Flaviens in 1908

This is a mobile multiple image projector and if it does not work on your system, view by clicking on the thumbnails listed below.

  In the open-air exposition of the museum there are collections of mines and ancient anchors, guns from coast guard system, a working periscope from a submarine, a working lighthouse from Varna port, the Cor Caroli yacht with which Bulgarian seafarer made the first in Bulgarian history solitary sailing around the world. The torpedo-boat Druzki in its original format is turned into a museum ship. She is the last surviving example of a warship type once very common to the world’s navies, particularly the French.
  The development of the sea activities in Bulgaria are displayed in the second museum exposition which is in another building. Sea culture around the Bulgarian Black Sea coast is presented by original exhibits, documents and photographs. Here is the biggest collection of ship models in the country.

Famous Bulgarian Navigator Stamps

 

E-mail 16-12-08  Dear Ged, today I visited Bulgarian sailors, who are in Zeebrugge to bring their ships up to date.  They will then bring the ships to Bulgaria. The Drazki was my first ship in 1983. In Belgium it was called the Wandelaar. I was on the Myosotis in 1991 in the Gulf war. I have a museum about the Navy and Navy uniforms. I want to exchange Belgium uniforms for Bulgarian uniforms, or buy them. Kind regards, Johnny Geldhof http://royalnavysectionbelge.navy.be johnny.geldhof@telenet.be