For sure most of you don’t find visiting a museum that amusing and it is not among the favourite things you like doing, however for a few months a recently opened museum in Sofia keeps proving that museums can be fun and is gaining a huge popularity. I have always asked myself if there is a museum where you can have fun, take pictures freely, touch every single exhibit and there is no need to whisper and keep silence. A place where you don’t need to be afraid that someone from the staff is going to make a remark for what you do in there. Well actually, yes. Such place exists and this is the Museum of Illusions in Sofia.
In the beginning of 2019 many of my friends started posting very interesting and off-beat photos on the social medias. They were hanging off from the ceiling in a bedroom, falling off from a huge chair or keeping safe from a water pouring out of a painting, so I began wondering where these pictures were taken and why I didn’t know that such venue existed. Well, now I do know!
The Museum of Illusions opened it’s doors for visitors on December 29, 2019 and took the world by a storm. It’s part of the European Museums of Illusions group which was founded in Lithuania. There are a few halls such as historian one, the upside-down bedroom, the phosphorus wallpaper one in which you can draw using light or just get your shadow imprinted on a wall. In this museum you can take pictures with all 50 exhibits while learning interesting and curious facts about each of them. Thanks to optical and physical illusions the impossible becomes possible and just when you start wondering how something is even possible you understand that the answer is quite simple.
Every single corner of this venue is going to arise interest in people among all ages, however I am going to tell you personally about the ones that impressed me the most.
For starters the upside-down bedroom is really pretty amusing. Once you enter you definitely have the feeling that you are walking on the ceiling and momentarily you will fall down onto the bed. I won’t give out the truth about this illusion, but please do come to this museum and find out by yourselves.
Also, maybe you are wondering how is it possible to stand next to a very-big chair and the other person standing on it to seem pretty small. Well, If I tell you now you won’t find it intriguing to solve the mystery, right? 🙂
One of the most interesting exponents is probably the “Plasma ball”. Once you touch it with the tips of your fingers, mysterious sparks of light are transformed into electric flashes which follow the movements of your palms.
The wall of faces is quite fascinating illusion, too. It puts to a test the relation between perception and knowledge. By interpreting the masks as real faces we ignore the visual signs such as light, shadows and depth. Choose one of the faces and try walking from one wall to another while looking at it. Maybe you will notice something! Later come closer to the wall and you will be surprised!
For sure you will find it very exciting to understand how water flows from a tap that floats into the air and there are no pipes connected to it, what is a hyperboloid of movement or what the glass of Rainford and the Euler’s disc are. Also, you will have the chance to glimpse at all four season combined in one single picture or look into the endless mirror. These are just a few of the many amusing and interesting things that await you. If you want to spend two hours learning many new things, having exceptionally good time and leave the museum with a smile on your face delighted of your experience than definitely The Museum of Illusions is worth visiting.
It is located at the very heart of Sofia’s center and you can get there pretty easily. More information about the museum itself, prices and working hours you can find on their website.
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Български (Bulgarian)