Regional Ethnographic Museum

The Regional Ethnographic Museum occupies the Koiumdjioglu House, one of the finest National Revival houses in Bulgaria — a sweeping symmetrical building with an elaborately painted interior, carved wooden ceilings, and a facade that looms over the old town cobblestones. The building alone is worth the entrance fee.

The collection inside covers the traditional crafts, costumes, and daily life of the Plovdiv region through the 18th and 19th centuries — weaving, embroidery, jewellery, woodcarving, and ceramic work from the Thracian plain and surrounding mountains. The museum gives context for understanding what the region looked like before rapid industrialisation. Open Tuesday to Sunday.

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A story
The Koiumdjioglu House — home to the Ethnographic Museum — was built in 1847 by a wealthy Greek merchant. Its architect, who came from Epirus in northwestern Greece, used a style that mixed Bulgarian National Revival influences with Baroque elements from the Ottoman cosmopolitan tradition. The building is as interesting as the collection inside.