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Follow paths through the park at the southern end of the square and you reach the Historical Museum or Istoricheski muzei (Tues-Sat 9am-noon & 1-5pm; US$1), housed in spacious former barracks at the foot of ul. Doiran. Within, a series of galleries explores successive periods of Bulgarian history through an extensive and remarkable collection of archeological artefacts. A blackened square of earth turns out to be the remains of a Neolithic dwelling from the fourth millennium BC, excavated near the village of Telish to the west and transferred here in the condition in which it was found. It's surrounded by a rich array of pottery from the same era, adorned with geometric designs. The collection of Bronze Age axe heads is particularly fine, though most eyes are drawn to the gold cauldron, a ritual object from the Chalcolithic period. More pottery comes from the Roman town of Oescus , near modern Gigen on the Danube, an important administrative centre and home to the Fifth Macedonian Legion. On show are numerous tombstones and a fragmentary floor mosaic with various animals frolicking around a (small but discernable) scene from Menander's comedy The Achaeans . It's the more personal things, though, like the baby footprints impressed in a clay roof tile, and the childrens' toys, including a little horse on wheels, which bring these ancient people to life. The medieval period is represented by finds from another Danube town, Nikopol, whose fortress had a reputation for invincibility under both Bulgarians and Ottomans. In the ethnographic section you'll see the hooded cloaks worn by shepherds of the Danubian Plain, an assortment of farm implements and a couple of blunt-ended boats carved from tree trunks used by fishermen on the river until very recently. Of particular interest are the reconstructions of sixteenth-century village huts, thatched-roofed dwellings built half above ground, half under, and surrounded by a stockade of twigs. Upstairs are seemingly endless halls filled with weapons and uniforms from the days of the siege, including the samovars presented by Russian officers to the Bulgarian families with whom they were billeted. There's also an interesting display of theatrical costumes and other oddments. The large and partly overgrown courtyard holds some of the larger Roman tombstones, votive plaques and statuary, left at the mercy of the elements, while in one corner you'll find the shattered remains of a more recently discarded culture, in the form of carved-up Soviet monuments, which once graced Pleven's public squares. Look out for pieces of Lenin scattered in the grass.
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