bg Sofia

Alkalay Family House

- Budapeshta Street 18 -
The residential building, which was built in 1918, was designed by the Bulgarian architect . It was built for the merchant Zahari David Alkalay, who came from one of the Jewish migrant families in Europe in the 19th century. He was born in and owned a bank in a Jewish neighborhood where lots of Jewish merchants and manufacturers lived. He was married to Gisela Horn from Austria-Hungary and their daughter, Nadezhda David Lekarska was a Bulgarian sports figure and figure of the international Olympic movement and the first female Olympic attaché of Bulgaria.

She was born on March 5, 1916, studied at the Bouffemon College in France, and later graduated in pedagogy in England. During six consecutive Olympiads, which took place between 1956 and 1978, she was the Olympic attaché of Bulgaria. She was part of the management of the International Olympic Academy in for five years. She has received several Olympic awards and she is an honorary member of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee. She is the author of several books, and engaged in translation work, simultaneous and consecutive translations.

In 1938, she marries the Bulgarian officer, a political and sports figure, and honored master of sports, , with whom she had three children. One of their sons is the hyper-realistic artist , who lives and works in .
Nadezhda David Lekarska and Krum Georgiev Lekarski and their children
The symmetrical and richly decorated building, which was built in the Neo-Baroque style, contains two balconies in the center of the facade, both secured with wrought iron railings. The railing of the stairs leading to the main entrance door contains the same motifs as the railings of the balconies. The , which are located on the second and third floor, are adorned with made out of bay leaves. Above the windows, on the second floor, you can see a surrounded by a garland wreath and bay leaves. This spectacle is flanked by two hanging garlands, a feature that can be seen in several other places as well. The above the windows on the third floor are beautifully shaped and the one in the center has the same shape as the roof above it. Within this last mentioned pediment, you'll be able to see a richly decorated with the Cyrillic letters З.А. (Z.A.). Above it, you can admire some beautiful ornaments, like a garland wreath, a cartouche, and some festoons.
The richly decorated cartouche with the inscription Z.А.