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The Ethnographic Museum (Tues-Sun 10am-5pm; US$1) occupies a National Revival house on ul. Panagyurishte. It's an interesting and attractively arranged collection, but one that concentrates exclusively on Bulgarian ethnography, despite the fact that Varna was a predominantly Greek, Turkish and Gagauz town until the Liberation. Downstairs lie reminders of the region's traditional trades and occupations: among them a variety of fishing nets, wine barrels, wattle-and-daub beehives and a nineteenth-century yamurluk or hooded cloak, as worn by the shepherds who roamed the hills of the interior. On the first floor, there's a display of regional costumes , showing great diversity of styles, largely because the area inland of Varna was a crossroads of migrating peoples. One distinct local group were the chenge , represented here by a wedding scene from the village of Asparuhovo, 50km west of Varna. Faceless costumed dummies are grouped around a ceremonial wooden wedding sledge, with the bride surrounded by men in black hats wreathed with flowers. Items relating to regional folk beliefs include the embroidered masks worn during Kukeri (spring) and Survakari (New Year) rites, and a couple of the New Year camels paraded through the streets in some areas - approximations of the humped beast made from sheepskin and mounted on skis. Also on display are a variety of ritual loaves baked to mark specific occasions: the Kravai for New Year or St John's Day; the "Pony" ( Konche ) for Todorovden (the feast day of St Theodore, patron of horse-breeding); or the Proshtupalnik - shaped like a baby's foot - to celebrate a child's first steps. On the topmost floor are the inevitable restored living rooms, comprising an elegantly furnished salon, drawing room and bedroom, offering an insight into the lives of the new urban middle classes of fin-de-siecle Varna, some of whose fashionable costumes are also on show.
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