bg Sofia

Iliya Milarov House

- Tsar Shishman Street 22 -
The residential building, which later turned into a commercial building, was built somewhere between 1896 and 1900. It was built for the Bulgarian lawyer, writer, literary critic, and theater actor, Iliya Milarov, which is a pseudonym of Iliya Nikolov Sapunov. He was born in in 1859, as the son of Nikola Sapunov, who was a rich merchant in and an active participant in the church liberation struggles for Bulgarian independence. He was the brother of the writer, historian, and publicist . Ilya graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of , and during that time, he became friends with representatives of the Croatian intelligentsia and a supporter of the idea of Croatian independence. After his return to Bulgaria, he worked as a prosecutor and judge in , , and Sofia.

He was involved in the public, political, and cultural life of the country. He edits the newspaper called Nov Vek, writes literary criticism, and writes plays. In 1902, he was appointed commandant of the newly built National Theater. It was his initiative to attract the Croatian directors and Sergijan Tucić, who are his personal acquaintances. Iliya Milarov died on August 23, 1948, in Zagreb, at the age of 89.
Iliya Milarov
The one-story building, which is built in the styles of Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Baroque, features segmental, as well as pointed . Within the segmental ones, you'll be able to see a , which is surrounded by foliage. The windows underneath these pediments are flanked by that are crowned with either an Ionic or a Corinthian . Underneath these same windows, you can admire a embellished with flowers and two ribbons, as well as a lion head . The banister of the stairs that leads to the main entrance door, contains some wrought iron , which are adorned with .
An old photo showing the building