The National Anthropological Museum is at 73 Tsarigradsko Shose Boulevard in Sofia, next to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was founded on 21 March 2007 under the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Experimental Morphology, Pathology and Anthropology.
The museum shows reconstructed faces of people who lived in the Bulgarian lands across the ages. They are the work of Prof. Yordan Yordanov, who rebuilds the soft tissue on a skull using M. M. Gerasimov’s method; a case at the start shows the stages of the work. The display runs in order — prehistory, antiquity, the Middle Ages and the National Revival.
The faces include the priest from grave 43 of the Varna Necropolis, where Europe’s oldest worked gold was found, the Thracian princess from the Mogilanska mound in Vratsa, Tsars Kaloyan and Samuil, the official Mostich, and the revolutionaries Zahari Stoyanov and Georgi Rakovski. Several reconstructions show facial features growing finer over the course of evolution. Graves are also reconstructed with the bodies laid in them — curled up, and in the Christian manner.
The museum also keeps a national ossuary, storing anthropological material from excavations across the country, which scientists use to study the people of the Bulgarian lands from antiquity to the present. It also stages temporary exhibitions on medical themes.
The museum has been closed for renovation since 27 May 2026 until the work is finished — check its website that it has reopened before you go.
The museum is outside the centre, on Tsarigradsko Shose Boulevard. The Museum of Socialist Art is in Izgrev, close to the same boulevard.
National Anthropological Museum is located in Sofia City, Bulgaria.
National Anthropological Museum is most easily reached by car. Use the coordinates above to navigate, or open the location in OpenStreetMap or your preferred maps app for turn-by-turn directions. Public transport options vary by region — for remote destinations a rental car gives the most flexibility.
National Anthropological Museum can be visited year-round. Verify current opening hours directly with the museum before your visit, as schedules change seasonally and on public holidays.
Opening hours and admission fees vary, and most Bulgarian museums close one day per week (commonly Monday). Verify current schedules and prices directly with the museum or the local tourist information office before visiting National Anthropological Museum, especially on public holidays.
