SoSofia.com

The foundations of the Central Military Club are laid in 1895 – seventeen years after Bulgaria gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. The architecture of the building is due to the Czech architect Antonin Kolar who has chosen the Neo-Renaissance style for his work. The building was finished by the Bulgarian architect Nikola Lazarov in 1907.

An interesting fact is that a stone from victorious battlefield at Slivnitsa from the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885-1886) was laid in the foundations.

Since then the edifice is an important cultural building, proclaimed as a national monument which hosts various events – from concerts and exhibitions to business meetings and cocktails.
The three-stroried edifice features an art gallery and a coffeehouse on the ground floor and a number of beautiful halls on the other floors.

There is a concert hall as well which has 450 seats and is famous for its acoustics. Many famous artists, singers, bands or djs have performed there – the famous artist Krastyu Sarafov, the opera singer Nicolai Ghiaurov, bands like Ostava, Gravity Co, Ladytron, djs like Marco Carolla and many others.

There is a library as well which has more than 120 000 editions.

The building is on 7 Tsar Osvoboditel boulevard, next to St. Nickolas church (the Russian church)

Quite interesting building in many perspectives.
Finished in 1981, it was part of a giant project for celebrating 1300 years from the foundation of Bulgaria.

Initially, it was named after the daughter of the former communist leader Todor Zhivkov – Lyudmila Zhivkova who at that time was also Bulgaria’s Minister of Culture.

After the political changes in 1990, the building was renamed to National Palace of Culture or NDK (Natsionalen Dvorets na Kulturata).

The architect is Alexander Barov who has used lots of concrete for materializing his ideas.
Inside the building you will find several halls with the biggest one of them containing 5000 seats.
The huge corridors are often used for fairs and exhibitions.

There are 3 underground floors and on one of them you can take a walk around conveniently organized shops. The entrance for them is from the underpasses in front of the building itself.

A friend of mine says that the building is actually a spaceship after wreckage, to me is more like a huge billboard having advertisements on all of its sides.

Nevertheless, it is curious to note that NDK has more steel in its foundations than the Eiffel Tower in Paris – 20 000 tons. Also, once I spoke with a porter who claimed that has been working all his life there and he was eager to share that NDK has two or three secret passage ways that he even did not know. His example was with Condoleezza Rice’s visit who suddenly popped up right in the conference hall. Cool!

Inseparable parts of the whole complex are the Lovers’ Bridge and the NDK’s Monument which is about to be demolished soon. See NDK map here.

The bridge’s name probably comes from the fact that lots of couples in love like to sit on the railings, talking sweet nothings while watching the view which opens from there.

It unites the National Palace of Culture and the end of Southern Park, where Hilton hotel is.
We are happy that the place is often used as an artistic area for displaying different exhibitions or artistic projects. It is a nice way to present works of art and to introduce them to people, making the atmosphere even more romantic.

As is in this case – you are welcomed to see our country from a bird view.

120 photos showing vast mountains, blue sea and endless fields are displayed to present Bulgaria in all of its greatness.

The only thing I wanted, after I visited the event, was to grab my bags and go traveling.

The photographer is Alexander Ivanov.
The exhibition will be there till October 18th of June.

The lake is constructed in 1904 as a part of the biggest and the oldest park in Sofia – the Boris’ Garden.

It is situated right at the main entrance of the park, where Orlov most (Eagle’s bridge) is.
We are happy to have it full with water after decades of being full with junk.

It took the municipality of Sofia 14 days to fill it up and years to reconstruct.

Now, surrounded by few cafes and bars, you can enjoy a nice afternoon around the water.

During the summer, the best thing is that you can rent a boat or a pedalo and to have fun by making circles in the lake and drinking beer. During the winter, you can enjoy ice-skating till 12 a.m!

The lake is open all day long.

After Bulgaria became an independent country from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, the Grand National Assembly elected Prince Alexander as Prince of Bulgaria.
The Prince died in exile in Graz, Austria in 1893. His remains were brought in Sofia, in accordance with his will.

The design of the Memorial Tomb of Alexander I of Battenberg was commissioned on the Swiss architect Hermann Mayer. It is in the eclectic style in which elements of Neo-Classicism and Neo-Baroque are strongly emphasised.

During the years of Communist governance (1945 – 1990) the building was closed for the public.

The Battenberg Mausoleum is located at 81 Vasil Levski Boulevard, within a walking distance from Sofia University and Blaze.

Founded ten years after the liberation from the Ottoman Empire in 1888, The “St. Clement of Ohrid” University of Sofia is the oldest higher education institution in Bulgaria.
The first three faculties were of History and Plilology (1888), of Mathematics and Physics (1898) and a Faculty of Law (1892).
The money for the building were provided by two brothers – Hristo Georgiev and Evlogi Georgiev whose sculptures could be seen at the front part of the building.

It was the French architect Henri Br?an?on whose design won after a competition and the official opening of the university’s building was in 1934.

Nowadays, about 14,000 students receive their education in 16 faculties.

Inside, you can visit the Museum of Paleontology or just take a view of the interior – huge corridors and enormous lecture-halls.

Right next to the university is the “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” National Library

Address: 15 Tsar Osvoboditel blvd

The library was founded in 1878, the year of Bulgaria’s liberation from the Ottoman Empire.

Initially, functioning as Sofia Public Library, its collection started with the help of donators from Bulgaria and Russia.

Named after the brothers Cyril and Methodius who are the inventors of the Cyrillic alphabet – the one that we use today, the library is the country’s biggest and oldest cultural institute.

The library collects and preserves all publications issued by Bulgarian writers. With its vast archives it covers literary all areas of academic studies.

During the World War II the building was destroyed completely. In 1953 the present-day building was officially presented. The architectural style is Neoclassical and it is designed by the prominent Bulgarian architects Ivan Vasiliov and Dimitar Tzolov.

It is situated right next to “St. Klement of Ohrid” University of Sofia.

The address is 88 “Vassil Levski” blvd.

Tel: (+ 359 2) 988 28 11