Those of you who find yourself in Razgrad, we would recommend you to visit the Art Gallery “Prof. Iliya Petrov” which has exhibits and artworks of various painters that showcase the culture and tradition of Bulgaria.

It was named after the leading Bulgarian painter Iliya Nikolaev Petrov. You know that this particular painter was born in Razgrad. Specifically on July 9, 1903! He moved to Sofia to study at the Academy of Arts and by the age of 25 had started working as a design teacher in the Bulgarian capital.

Razgrad can also be characterized as the city that gave birth to one of the leading painters of his time.

At 37 he became a teacher at the Academy of Arts and 17 years later, in 1957, he was Dean of the School of Fine Arts.

In 1965 he became Rector of the Academy and became one of the most important representatives of Razgrad in Bulgarian culture.

You will find his masterpieces in many museums in different parts of the world.

Many leading painters bowed to his talent, and his hometown of Razgrad was often cited as having “given birth” to a man who worked magic with his brushes on portraits of famous personalities and images of natural landscapes.

The National School of Fine Arts in Sofia also bears his name, wanting in this way to honor one of the leading painters that Bulgaria produced.