bg Sofia

Avram Chalovski House

- Otets Paisiy Street 41 -
The residential building was built in 1908 and its design came from the Bulgarian architect . It was built for the native Macedonian, Avram Minov Chalovski, also called the Bulgarian Ford. He was among the most important Bulgarian industrialists and was a prominent donor. He was born in 1854 in the western Macedonian village of , then the Ottoman Empire, and as a child, he was a shepherd in his native village. After the , he emigrated to Sofia and there he sells boza on the streets until he collects enough money to buy a shop. In 1898 he bought a horse and a small mill and together with another worker began to produce tahini halva in his workshop. It grew into a factory, the first tahini halva factory in Bulgaria, and began producing sesame oil as well. In 1921 he opened his second factory in , after buying two workshops. The enterprises in Sofia and Burgas are under the name "Industrial house for the production of confectionery, vegetable oils, tahini, cocoa, chocolate, biscuits, caramel, and more.", which was founded in 1898 by Chalovski.

Apart from his entrepreneurship, Avram Chalovski is known for his extensive philanthropic work. He made a large donation to the , which in turn presented him with an icon of Spyridon the Wonderworker, who is the patron of the company. He also donated a chapel to the Church of the Assumption of St. Ivan Rilski in the . He died on November 3, 1943 in Sofia. He was buried next to the first worker with whom he started his business. The two are buried in the Sofia Cemetery, where in 1912, Chalovski bought a separate tomb with twelve cells.
Avram Minov Chalovski
The Art Nouveau building contains a beautiful mix of geometric forms and floral ornaments. In the center of it, you can admire a huge with a balcony on top of it and four other balconies attached to it. Three of the balconies are secured with a cast iron railing and the other two with a stone balustrade, which contains . The oriel window, as well as the balconies, are supported by massive . The corbels that support the roof are smaller and are decorated with foliage. The fragments that are located in between these corbels are embellished with squares and circles, rose plants, and with bunches of grapes. On the first and second floors, you can see fragments that are embellished with laurel leaves and even more roses.

On the bottom of the oriel window, you can see a plaque that states that Avram Chalovski lived in this building. On the first floor, there are two plaques, one of which is written in the French language and the other in Bulgarian. It states that Avram Chalovski is the owner of the factory which is founded in 1898 and a list of all the products that he produced.
A plaque stating that Avram Chalovski lived in this building