Art Gallery, Plovdiv, Art museum in Old Town, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

The City Art Gallery in Plovdiv holds over 7,400 works, including 2,400 paintings, 2,580 graphics, 574 icons, 545 sculptures and applied arts pieces, 1,234 Mexican art works and 93 photographs. Its exhibitions are housed in separate buildings, among them the Icon, Mexican Art, Tsanko Lavrenov, Encho Pironkov and Georgi Bozhilov–Slona collections, plus the Kapana gallery, the 2019 hall and the Banya Starinna contemporary art rooms.

The museum's history began in 1881, when four copies of the donor portraits from Boyana Church (1259), made by Tryavna icon painter Simeon Simeonov, entered Plovdiv's National Library and Museum. An art department was formed in 1911 and became the basis of the future city gallery, first called the State Art Gallery. It officially opened on 2 March 1952.

The gallery's name-linked collections honour individual artists: dedicated permanent displays are devoted to Tsenko Lavrenov, Encho Pironkov and Georgi Bozhilov-Slona. A separate permanent exhibition holds 1,234 works of Mexican art, and the icons section keeps 574 icons. The gallery also runs the Kapana gallery, the 2019 hall and the contemporary art rooms in the old Bath.

The gallery's exhibitions are spread across separate buildings rather than one site, including halls in the Kapana district and the Ancient Bath. Plan to move between venues, and check which spaces are open before setting out.

The gallery holds 1,234 works of Mexican art, a collection that few visitors expect in Plovdiv. It also keeps 574 icons, including four copies of the donor portraits from Boyana Church (1259), made by Tryavna painter Simeon Simeonov, which started the museum's collection in 1881.