In 1961 the building was redeployed for the needs of the National Museum – Silistra. The restoration and preservation of the building for the Ethnographic Museum started in 1965. The exhibition was opened on 27.11.1967 and is the third time for a specialized ethnographic exhibition after the National Ethnographic Museum – Sofia and the National Ethnographic Museum – Plovdiv.
The building is a monument of culture, according to an established list of NICC with the reference No. 4262 of 29.11.1984, in which under number 63 is recorded: Konak, now Ethnographic museum on 37 Otets Paisiy Str.
Museums in Bulgaria are cultural establishments under the methodical guidance of the Museums, Galleries and Fine Arts Directorate. Museums in the country are divided into national, government-run (eg the Zemen Monastery); (such as the Gotse Delchev Historical Museum) and private ones (for example, the Ethnographic Museum “Madjarova House” in the village of Arda). The museums include historians, archaeologists and ethnographers, and lately specialists with a specialty “Museum work”, which is revealed in some Bulgarian universities.
The town of Silistra is one of the first towns in Bulgaria to start museum activities. The museum was established on 18 November 1898 as a school session at the State Pedagogical School in the city. In 1951 the museum was converted to state institute. It was declared a professional cultural institute and was directly subordinate to the People’s Council. In 1959, it was declared a district museum and since July 2006 it functioned as a regional museum. The main fund of the museum contains more than 50,000 cultural assets. Its main activities are the preservation, exhibition and promotion of movable cultural assets, the material and intangible cultural heritage, the study of the history of the city and of Dobrudja.
The credit for creating the first museum in Silistra and Dobrudja belongs to the teachers from the State Pedagogic School in the town. By Protocol No. 9 of November 18, 1898, the school’s council adopted a decision to build a museum. Its status was approved on 11 January 1899 by the Minister of National Enlightenment Ivan Vazov. The museum was housed in one of the school rooms. It displayed coins and other archaeological objects found in Silistra, which were transmitted voluntarily by students, teachers and citizens. Dobrudja folk costumes, old books, manuscripts and others were also preserved. The first person in charge of the museum is the history teacher Todor Ikonomov, a native of Oryahovo, who graduated from the Sofia University (Sofia University “Kliment Ohridski”).
