bg Ruse

Former Hotel Boulevard

- Svoboda Square 2 -
The commercial building was built in 1897 and was designed by the Italian architect Nino Rosetti. It was commissioned by the French entrepreneur Andre Turio, who owned a large plot of land, part of which he sold to the municipality for the design of the central city garden. The Boulevard Hotel with the owner Vasil Kungulis was opened in the building. On the first floor, there was a jewelry store of the Armenian Tevo Papazyan and Zaruk Khachumyan owned a goldsmith's shop and a watch workshop. After the death of Andre Turio in 1918, the building was sold by his heirs to a famous confectioner from the town of , called Bratan Revenski.
Zaruk Khachumyan sitting on the right surrounded by his family
With the purchase of the building, Bratan Revenski expanded his activities and opened a hotel and a pastry shop on the first floor both named Teteven. The pastry shop only sold pastries that were homemade and was a favorite meeting place for many Ruse residents, both young and old. In the evening, when the confectionery closes, carts are regularly waiting in front of it, delivering the sweet treats to the poor citizens. Bratan Ravenski is one of the founders of the Union of Hoteliers in Bulgaria and the founder of a confectionery school and is remembered for his philanthropic work.

Since 1940, the confectionery has been managed by Tahir Nuri, the intelligentsia of Turkish society. After the coup of , 1944, he was declared an espionage, and because of that reason, he got killed.
Bratan Revenski
On the top of the northwestern corner of the Neo-Renaissance building, you'll be able to see a sculpture of a female figure. The dormer on the corner is adorned with a , as well as a that contains the construction year 1897. Underneath the roof , you can alternately see a or a strip of . The , which is located on the corner of the building, has a small balcony on top of it with a stone balustrade, and underneath it two . The oriel window contains beautifully decorated floral ornamentation, as well as four that are crowned with Corinthian . The same counts for the pilasters that stretch all the way up from the second to the third floor. The pilasters that flank the balcony door are crowned with Ionic capitals.
An old postcard of the building
The balconies, which are located on the third floor are supported by two corbels and are secured with a stone balustrade. Underneath these balconies, you'll either be able to admire a broken segmental or a broken pointed . Within the segmental ones, you'll see a head of a lion, and within the pointed one a head of a human female. The , which are located between the windows on the second floor, feature different kinds of male and female figures. The same counts for the busts that can be seen in the cornice between the first and second floor. Another strip of dentils is placed underneath this same cornice.

On the first floor, you can see two types of cartouches, one decorated even more lavishly than the other. Some of the alternating stone blocks used around the windows are decorated with the technique of . Above the entrance on the north side of the building, you can see a monogram with the intertwined Latin letters A.T., the initials of the first owner, Andre Turio.
The monogram with intertwined Latin letters A.T.