Learn about the past, beauty and magic of glass with live demonstrations, historical artefacts and an exhibition of fine objects

Windows, bottles, vials, glasses, plates... glass has become such an integral part of our lives that we often forget how extraordinary this material really is. Just imagine – it took humanity thousands of years to discover that a special type of sand, mixed with other substances, could be heated into a molten mass from which delicate glasses and ornaments in various colours could be made.

Generation after generation refined the art of glassmaking until we reached today's variety – from elegant glass objects to the most mundane beer bottles, window panes for buildings and cars, light fixtures, and much more...

The Glass Museum in Beloslav offers a wonderful opportunity to experience the magic of this fascinating material up close. It is located in the glass factory of the company Inhom – the successor of Bulgaria's first glassworks, founded in 1893.

What will you see? After a short introduction about the key stages of the production process, presented by a factory technology consultant, you will visit a furnace workshop, where for about seven minutes, an experienced glassblower will create three delicate blown-glass objects in front of you, heated to a temperature of 1500–1800ºC.

After the demonstration, you will move on to the main museum exhibition – its showcases making a colourful kaleidoscope of various glass items, including glass headlights for the Lada cars, produced during the Communist era, unique works of art, a glass river, and even a glass "cave" – a glassmaking furnace that has long been out of use, but still tells the story of an impressive craft.