Located inside the former Tsar’s palace, Sofia’s National Art Gallery houses Bulgaria’s largest art collection, with some 60,000 works. Its creaky wooden floors, original marble fireplaces and high ceilings ensure the building is a sanctuary from the Sofia heat, which can feel quite sticky in the summer.When Sofia was conquered by the Turks in 1382, this building became akonak (headquarters) of the local Ottoman administrators. At one time these were used to interrogate Bulgarian rebels. These days it charts the development of Bulgarian art from 1878 to the mid-20th century, beginning with the Revivalist period and portraiture with painters like Zograf, Dospevski and Pavlovic. Moving into the early 20th century, examples of the popular 1930s movement includes scenes by Nikola Tanev, a Gaugin-esque Stoyan Sotinov and wonderful paintings of old Plovdiv by Tzanko Lavrenov. There are also regularly changing exhibitions from international artists.
