Section

HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM

XX–XXI c.Establishment of the Museum

Archaeological Museum “Maritsa-iztok” was established in relation to the mining activities of the state-owned enterprise of “Maritsa-iztok” Mines, respectively the open mines which function on the territory of the municipalities of Radnevo and Galabovo.

Coal Mining

The exploitation of the coal deposits in the East Maritsa Coal Basin started in 1952. The lignite coal deposit is located very deep below the modern terrain and its extraction is a destructive process. According to the legal regulations of the Republic of Bulgaria all registered archaeological sites on the territory of the open mines must be entirely studied before their inevitable destruction.

Beginning of the Archaeological Digs

The first rescue archaeological excavations on the territory of the Mines were conducted in the 60-ty years of the 20th c. by a team from the Regional Museum of History in Stara Zagora. During the next almost 40 years the excavations were extensive, of single sites, and they were led by archaeologists from the museums in Stara Zagora, Nova Zagora and Sliven.

The First Expedition

The formation of a small museum collection and respectively the establishing of an archaeological department in 1987 was a turning point in the history of the museum.

The organizing of an Archaeological expedition “Maritsa-iztok” marked a new stage in the evolution of the archaeological studies on the territory of the Mines. Archaeologists and other scientists from museums and scientific institutions from the entire country took part in it. As a result, over 230 archaeological sites were registered and a plan for their gradual and systematic study was made.
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The establishing of the Archaeological Museum “Maritsa-iztok” in 1992 was an expected consequence of the expedition’s activities and results. During the past 30 years dozens of terrain surveys were accomplished, as well as hundreds of prehistoric, Roman and medieval sites were studied.

These included sepulchres (barrows, burial mounds), necropolises, unfortified settlements, fortresses, pit complexes, temples and prehistoric settlement mounds. As a result of their archaeological investigation thousands of artefacts have been added to the museum’s collection and depositories. A small amount of them is exhibited in the museum’s halls and they are periodically replaced with newly found ones.

Today

During the last decade the museum archaeologists conducted excavations out of the territory of the Mines. They studied sites on the territory of Radnevo Municipality and beyond, related to major infrastructural projects like motorways and gas-pipe lines. They contributed to the increasing of the museum’s collection. A new ethnographical exhibition was organized which shows the modern life in the region over the last hundred years.
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The project is funded by NCF“Digital window towards Archaeological Museum
“Maritsa-iztok” Radnevo”
2025
Design by
Studio SFERA, part of
RISK Electronics Ltd.
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