Museum of Modern and Contemporary History of Veliko Tirnovo is located near Museum of Prison. The exhibition is part of the Regional History Museum. One room in the museum houses the temporary exhibition “Veliko Tarnovo and the Bulgarian State” and the other room houses the exhibition “Bulgarian fighters for national unification.”
The main idea of the exhibition is to present the city as a symbol of the continuity of the Bulgarian state in the first decades after the Liberation. By photo materials and original articles it is showed that the most important events during this period took place in Tirnovo: The first Grand National Assembly and appointment of Alexander Battenberg as prince of Bulgaria in 1879; The Second National Assembly was held in the town of Sviștov in 1881; The Union in 1885; the Thrid Grand National Assembly and appointment of Ferdinand Saxa-Coburg-Gotha as a Bulgarina price; The fourth Grand National Assembly was held in 1893; Independence of September 22, 1908; The fifth Grand National Assembly in 1911; In the exhibition the focus is on the role of Stefan Stambolov as the architect of modern Bulgaria. A point of interest is personal objects, the author of the song “Mila Rodino” – Tsvetan Radoslavov and coins issued during the Third Bulgarian Kingdom..
In another room of the museum is housed the exhibition “Bulgaria’s national union fighters” – 1885, 1912-1913, 1915-1918. By maps that reflect the conduct of hostilities and rich photographic material are shown the most important moments of the wars for for national unification of Bulgaria. There are exhibited material evidence of that time, the majority being held by residents of Veliko Tirnovo, who took part in hostilities: medals and orders; uniforms; monitoring tools; weapons and parade; “Crunk” weapons, “Mauser”, “Mannlicher”, “Peabody Martini” revolvers “Gasser” guns “Parabellum”, “Walter”, “Beretta”, etc .; machine guns “Maxim Sokolov.” Among these can be seen graphic works of Boris Denev, known as a painter of Tirnovo who participated in wars and illustrated original antique maps.
