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Prison Museum

Prison Museum in Veliko Tarnovo is a unique museum for Bulgaria. The solid stone building is located south of the former Turkish Konak, now Museum of Bulgarian Revival and Constituent Assembly. It serves as a prison for a century, between the year of 1854 – 1954, before turning into a museum in 1960.

The museum exposition was restored in 2011. The original interior of three prison cells and the secure lock-up cell were restored. These cells were used during the years of National Liberation Movement in 19th century. The tools used for torture are preserved in the original torture room, along with description of the punishments that used to be applied. Displayed are also the names of 399 fighters for the National Liberation who served terms in Tarnovo prison.

A separate panel contains portraits of notorious persons from Bulgarian history who were locked up here – Filip Totyu, Stefan Karadja, Vasil Levski, Todor Kableshkov, Bacho Kiro, Georgi Izmirliev, Todor Kirkov, etc. The visitor room and the prison manager rooms are also restored. Tourists can also see everyday items, which used to belong to prisoners like aluminium cans for food, spoons, ceramic water jugs, wooden boxes for personal items. Some object were made by the prisoners, such as a chessboard and a hairnet.

John Pielmeier, American playwright and screenwriter met the deputy mayor of Veliko Tarnovo, Snezhana Daneva, to discuss the opportunity to embark on filming historical series.

Pielmeier would like to turn the Veliko Tarnovo hills of Trapezitsa and Tsarevets into a shooting locations for a part of his project about the ancient history of the European continent. The series will be broadcast throughout the Europe.

Reportedly, Pielmeier was impressed by the opportunities that Veliko Tarnovo and Tsarevets provide for the realization of the film project. He also supports Veliko Tarnovo’s application for European Capital of Culture.

John Pielmeier is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has won many prestigious awards for international theatrical and television films. His productions have been played over 600 times on Broadway.
Pielmeier has won the prestigious Christopher award for screenplay with historical theme.

The Independence of Bulgaria (celebrated just two days ago) from the Ottoman Empire was proclaimed on 5 October (22 September old style date) 1908 in the old Bulgarian capital Veliko Tarnovo by Prince (Knyaz) (afterwards Tsar) Ferdinand of Bulgaria.

Few people know that the historical events related to the Bulgarian Independence start from Trapezitsa station in Veliko Tarnovo. According to historical accounts, in the early morning of 22 September, Ferdinand takes his last steps as a prince in this station. Minutes later, he assumes the title of tsar as the head of an independent state. The royal train stops at the train station, without anyone knowing, because the tsar liked surprises. He then gets off the train unnoticed and walks to St. 40 Martyrs Church.

Tarnovians had placed a patriotic plaque to commemorate the event, which now, 105 years later, no longer exists and this beautiful building is left to decay. The hand painted inscriptions on the stones cannot be read and hardly anyone knows that this place marks the beginning of the Bulgarian Independence.

Currently, there are plans of transforming the station into a virtual museum. The municipality is to acquire and renovated the property, which is built in North German Style. This is one of the initiatives regarding the candidacy of Veliko Tarnovo for European Capital of Culture.