History. In 1985 the bulgarian Ilia Deleff, an immigrant in Brazil, donated by the National Endowment Fund "13 Centuries Bulgaria" a collection of 53 gigantic crystal with the condition to provide a suitable building for storage and exhibition of the collection by the Bulgarian state.

This donation is one of the reasons early next 1986 to create a Museum "Earth and Man" for this purpose is provided building of the former "Sofia Arsenal". In 1988 to the first collection of Ilia Deleff added another giant crystals that enrich exhibition scientific and aesthetic terms.

Stored giant crystals from Brazil in the world have a total number of about 200 pieces and are exhibited in two major museum collections (Paris and Sofia) and three small (Strasbourg, Seattle and the city. Borkolu, Netherlands).

Importance. The exhibition "Giant Crystals" is the main focus at the Museum "Earth and Man" and is located in a central part on the first floor of the exhibition hall.

The giant crystals from Brazil come from the state of Minas Gerais, the valley of the river Rio Doce - central parts of Brazil, north of Rio de Janeiro. The giant crystals from Brazil are natural phenomenon and they are extremely rare. They were formed about 200 million years of great deep in the Earth's crust in the implementation of granite magma in older rocks. Much later, thanks to the deep erosion cut (several kilometers depth) they are revealed on the surface. The composition of these deposits include both widespread minerals - quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase, muscovite and more rare beryl, cassiterite, spodumene, tantalite, lepidolite, tourmaline, topaz, garnet and others.

Giant deposits of crystals in the valley and the river Rio Doce is the largest and richest province in the world of gemstones, quartz for electronics (PIEZOQUARTZ), rare metals and giant crystals. These fields were destroyed during intense exploitation for the purposes of the military industry in the years from 1938 to 1977 A representative of the giant crystals from Brazil (about 200 pieces) were saved from destruction by Bulgarian emigrant Ilia Delev - the world's only collector of this type formations.

The giant crystals from Brazil exhibits high scientific and cultural value and are part of World Heritage. The exhibition "Giant crystals" at the National Museum "Earth and Man" than giant crystals from Brazil has samples from Bulgaria, India, Madagascar and Russia.

The largest preserved amethyst geode in Europe, found near Studen kladenetz, Bulgaria.

Giver Ilia Deleff - moments of biography.

Born August 3, 1921 in with. Zlokuchane, Shumen, in the big family engaged in agriculture and trade. In 1938 he graduated from high school in Shumen. Deeply impressed by the stories of his teacher of geography Amazon River lived the dream to go there.

From 1939 he served in the ranks of the Bulgarian Army - 3rd Air Yambol Regiment. As a board gunman involved in the final phase of the war in Kumanovo in 1944. In 1945 dismissed from the army. In 1946 he moved to the Czech Republic on an intergovernmental agreement on exchange of workers with a passport that is valid only for this country. Same year left the Czech Republic and took the difficult path of immigrants. Illegally passes through Slovakia, Austria and Italy.

In 1948 a large group of immigrants taking off by plane from Italy and land in Peru. Here Deleff passes through Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela, where in 1956 enters the Amazon. In the Manaus, capital of Amazonia, completes courses for experts in geology and received a license for production and trade in precious stones and industrial minerals.

In 1957 it settled permanently in the city of Governador Valladares, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, which is dedicated to the work of his life in search, acquisition, storage and presentation of giant crystals as a World Heritage.

In 1983 the National Museum of Natural History - Paris buys part of the collection Il. Delev for the sum of 700 000 Swiss francs. With this purchase was established permanent exhibition "Giant crystals from Brazil," which opened on March 22, the same fit and causes huge interest worldwide.

Says Mr. Jean Bead - the then director of the museum "From the time of greatest explorers, naturalists we have not another bigger event than the exhibition of giant crystals, both scientifically and in terms museum."