The Naval Museum presents the exciting story of the development of Bulgarian naval and civil seafaring, the history, successes and losses in the defence of the sea coasts, the advantages and benefits that the sea gives us, as well as the responsibilities for its research, preservation, and use.
The idea for a maritime museum was born in 1883, a few years after the establishment of the Bulgarian Army and its Danube Flotilla and Naval Division. The establishment of an Officers’ Assembly in Ruse in 1885 gave impetus to its formation, aiming to enhance the knowledge and skills of naval officers and to disseminate maritime knowledge. For the “custodian” of the emerging museum collection was elected Lieutenant Pavel Kuzminski, a ship engineer and mechanic who headed the Machinery School and Arsenal.
At the end of the XIX century, the Fleet Command was moved to Varna, and its structures expanded along the seashore. The collected artefacts were also transferred there, and in 1923 public Maritime Museum was opened. The primary role in its establishment belonged to the organization Bulgarian National Maritime Association (BNMA), which included both active and reserve naval officers, teachers, merchants, and judges, and aimed to popularize maritime knowledge among the people and to promote the broader use of the sea’s resources.
The initiators were Captains Second Rank Ivan Mihaylov, Vasil Ignatov, Georgi Slavyanov, and Sava Ivanov. At the opening of the museum on 20 May 1923, Captain Second Rank Ivan Mihaylov emphasized that the establishment of the Maritime Museum was not a spontaneous expression of patriotism but a conscious act intended to answer the question of what are the marks of our maritime past and confidently added that it represented “a new contribution to the Bulgarian cultural treasury.”