Founded in 1888, when a museum, part of the City Library was established, Varna Archaeological Museum is situated in a historic building designed in the Neo-Renaissance style by the noted architect Petko Momchilov and built-in 1892–1898 for the Varna Girls' School.

     One of the largest museums in Bulgaria, it features 2,150 m² of exhibition area and displays objects from the prehistoric, Thracian, Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman periods of the region's history, as well as from the times of the medieval Bulgarian and Byzantine Empires, the Ottoman rule and the Bulgarian National Revival (including about 900 medieval and Revival icons).
     The Museum's arguably most celebrated exhibit is the Gold of Varna, the oldest gold treasure in the world, excavated in 1972 and dating to 4600-4200 BCE, which occupies three separate exhibition halls. The museum also manages two open-air archaeological sites, the large Roman baths in the city centre and the medieval grotto of Aladzha Monastery at Golden Sands Nature Park.