The National Art Gallery of Bulgaria is undoubtedly one of the main museums in the country and one of the most visited tourist attractions in Sofia. Located in the heart of the capital on the central city square of Prince Alexander I, it houses the richest collection of artworks in the country. Moreover, the gallery building itself deserves no less attention. After all, the National Art Gallery has placed its treasures in the walls of the former Royal Palace, a magnificent monument of 19th-century architecture.

The National Art Gallery was founded in 1948 and moved to the halls of the ancient Royal Palace four years later. Once, during the rule of the Ottoman Empire, it was occupied by the so-called konak. After the Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire, the palace became the official residence of the first Bulgarian Prince Alexander of Battenberg. Today, the Royal Palace houses two outstanding museums at once, the National Art Gallery of Bulgaria and the National Ethnology Museum.

The Art Gallery occupies the second and third floors. There are more than 150 priceless paintings, created by world-famous artists in the period from the Bulgarian Renaissance to the end of the 20th century. There are works of such famous Bulgarian artists as Zahari Zograf and Vladimir Dimitrov Maistor, the proponent of expressionism Sirak Skitnik, the modernists Ivan Milev and Nikolai Rainov, as well as one of the most original Bulgarian masters of the 20th century Zlatyu Boyadzhiev. In total, the gallery's collection includes more than 50 thousand artworks of various genres, 3 thousand of which were created by Bulgarian artists. The works of Bulgarian sculptors can be seen on the third floor of the palace.

In addition to permanent exhibitions, the National Art Gallery regularly hosts temporary exhibitions, thematic meetings and creative evenings dedicated to painting and sculpture, scientific conferences, and educational seminars. The library of the Art Gallery deserves special attention. It contains more than 6500 thousand books devoted to the history of art.