Abstract
The collections of the National Archaeological Museum in Bulgaria are among the richest in the Balkans. The museum is placed inside the oldest building of its kind in Sofia—the 15th century Buyuk Mosque (The Grand Mosque). Its permanent exhibition consists of approximately 4000 objects of different materials—stone, ceramics, metals, mosaics, frescoes, icons, glass, parchment, paleontological materials, flints, ivory, bone and leather. An assessment of risks related to ten agents of deterioration and influencing both the permanent exhibition and the building was completed in 2009–2010. Risk treatments to reduce those risks were developed.
This method of museum risk assessment was applied for first time in Bulgaria. Because preventive conservation has never been a priority in the National Archaeological Museum, and in Bulgaria in general, many risks were identified as currently affecting the exhibited objects or as having had a negative influence in the past. When the assessment started, many problems were already visible but it wasn't clear which risks affected the collection and building most. The main purposes of the assessment were determining which risks have higher magnitude, therefore greatest expected effect, as well as pointing attention to collections on display.