Year: 2020

102, Marie-Louise Blvd. Construction of the building of Sofia Railway Station, designed by the Czech architects Antonin Kolar, Bogdan Prosek and the Bulgarian architect Todor Markov, began in 1882. To the work contributed also Italian specialists, while the overall management was entrusted with the entrepreneur and future Sofia mayor, Ivan Grozev. Technical difficulties with the…

‘Lavele’ Str. The St. Joseph Catholic College opened on January 14, 1880. Its building stood on north ‘Lavele’ Str., between ‘G. Washington’ and ‘Prince Boris I’. It was part of a large complex, which also included the St. Joseph Cathedral, and the St. Cyril and Methodius Catholic College for Boys. Its founder was the Capuchin…

On November 6, 1910, on Tsar Simeon Street, near the District Court, opens the Odeon Theatre. The designer is Arch. Naum Torbov, who has received his architectural education among the spectacular architecture of Bucharest and is author of other landmark buildings, such as the City Casino and Market Hall. The striking volumes and sophisticated decoration,…

The Intersection of Hristo Botev Blvd. and Kozloduy Str. Instituted immediately after the Liberation, the Sofia Charity Society worked to provide support to children of poor or war-stricken parents, by providing food and clothing. Right from the beginning, the Society’s members considered opening an orphanage. Through charity balls and concerts, as well as donations, they…

4, Oborishte Str. The Palace of The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Patriarchate – a sparkling representative of the National-Romanticism current of the early 20th century Bulgarian architecture, an exceptional cultural and historical landmark, and one of the first monumental buildings of Sofia, was designed by Arch. Petko Momchilov and Arch. Jordan Milanov and built…

131, Georgi Sava Rakovski Str. Instituted on June 17, 1879, the Bulgarian National Library is among the first state institutions of the newly liberated Principality. Initially, it uses a modest house on the site occupied today by the building of the Bulgarian National Bank. The growing number of books, however, coupled with systemic lack of…

5, Dyakon Ignatii Str. One of the most beautiful building of the Bulgarian capital, informed by the reigning European trends, is The Ivan Vazov National Theatre. The initiative for its construction dates to the beginning of the twentieth century, when a July 14, 1903 Directive of the Minister of Public Education, Dr. Ivan Shishmanov appoints…

9, PirotskaStr. The St. St. Cyril and Methodius French Catholic College for Boys was part of the Catholic compound built after the Liberation through the initiative of Father Timoteo Gronda da Strona.Established in 1882, at first teaching was entrusted with the monks of the Monastic Family of the Assumption (i.e. the Assumptionists), and later to…

153, G.S. Rakovski Str. The Royal Italian School in Sofia, launched on February 6, 1921, was the first Italian school in Bulgaria. Established through the initiative of the local Italian community, its instant popularity resulted in the prompt addition of a high school. The school was named after the Italian literature classic, Alessandro Manzoni (1785…

1, Gurgulyat Str. In 1910, Apostolic Vicar Roberto Menini purchases lots for the construction of buildings, where the nuns from the St. Vincent of Paula congregation’s Zagreb chapter, open the Knyaginya Nadezhda Orphanage, a kindergarten and an elementary school. Since 1925, the school is certified as a middle school, and from the early 1930’s –…