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City Walk 4

Boyana Church > Kopitoto > National History Museum

This tour takes you out of town and you will need to get someone to drive you or take a taxi. Although all sights can be reached by public transport they are not interconnected.

Included on UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage List, the Boyana Church is considered one of Bulgaria’s most significant historical treasures. From the Boyana Church make your way (by car) down to Boulevard Bulgaria and then follow it out of town uphill to Kopitoto, named after the new television tower (the old one is in town in the Borissova Gradina) from where you can enjoy some spectacular views over the city, weather permitting.

As you head back down the mountain along Bulgaria Blvd., take a left when you reach the Ring Road (Okolovrustno Shosse) and look for the signs to the National History Museum, spectacularly set at the foot of the mountain in part of the former dictator Todor Zhivkov’s residence.There was a lot of controversy when in 2000 the National History Museum had to vacate the former law courts building on Vitosha Blvd. in the centre of town, and relocated to Boyana. It was feared that visitors would not take the trouble to travel the ten or so kilometers out of town to view the magnificent collection of treasures.

In fact the beautiful setting of the new location, along with easy car/bus access and ample parking space combined with the curiosity of seeing the opulence in which the former communist leaders lived, ensure that the visitors continue to come. After many years of criticism the museum is now also catching up with its English captions and, as in most museums, you can hire a guide.