Bulgaria Inside

The village of Cherni Osum is situated on the northern slopes of central Stara Planina Mountain, on the banks of Cherni Osum River. Its history goes back 450 years, when the village formed as a revolutionary and independence struggle center.

Steneto preserve, part of Central Balkan national park, is located nearby. The preserve features impressive cliffs, rare animal species and beautiful plants.

In 1956, local teacher Ilia Hristov Iliev started collecting together with his students specimens for their biology classes. The interesting collection placed inside the school attracted the interest of nature lovers from various parts of the country.

The collection was moved in a special building in the spring of 1976. Starting 1977, the collection was named Nature Division of the Lovech regional history museum. In 1992, the exposition became independent and was named Natural Science Museum.

Three exhibition halls feature more than 700 specimens. One of the halls holds mainly large mammals and visitors can listen to audio recordings of the various sounds that animals make.

Photos in the next hall present nature landmarks in the region. This hall also features fish, reptiles and amphibians found in the region. Insect collections and bird specimens happen to be some of the most interesting parts of the exposition.

Cherni Osum’s Natural Science Museum also houses the nature preservation center of Central Balkan park. The center protects over 100 plants that can be found on the territory of the park.

The museum aims to popularize the species living in the central part of Stara Planina. In one hour visitors can learn a lot about a large number of species.