bg Sofia

Orel Palace

- Knyaginya Maria Luiza Boulevard 45 -
The residential and commercial building was built in 1925 and was built for the housing cooperative called Orel Palace. It was originally meant to be a five-story hotel with a retail area and cafe on the ground floor. On the first floor, the cooperative building housed a total of twelve shops and the four upper floors housed a total of fifty-seven rooms. Shortly after the erection of the building, the first three floors were transformed into bank offices and the top floor became residences of the bank employees. For the time being, the main part of the underground level is a sublet that functions as a nightclub. The first floor premises serve as a clothes shop and a pastry shop.
An old postcard showing the building
Three years after the coup of , 1944, the building was nationalized and was returned to the owners only in 1992 by the then mayor of Sofia, . In the 1970s, a branch of the Bulgarian National Bank was located in the building, and also the Ministry of Culture and Education used one of the floors. The last exterior repainting was done around 1976, the occasion being the 11th congress of the Bulgarian Communist Party. A project that consists of renovation, conservation, and restoration of the facades of the building was carried out in 2018. During these works, the authentic that supported the balconies were reconstructed, which were modeled after an archival photo. The corbels are believed to have been lost during the of Sofia during the .
The building somewhere in the 1970s
The most distinctive parts of the symmetrical Eclectic building, are the two , which are supported by two eagle . They both look in the same direction, and both hold two oak branches in their claws, which is a symbol of wisdom, strength, and endurance. If you look a bit further up, you'll be able to see a and two garland wreaths, all of which are surrounded by laurel twigs, which is a symbol of triumph. On top of each of the oriel windows, you can admire a that's surrounded by a and two , which in their case are surrounded by even more laurel twigs. Another cartouche is placed above the fifth floor balcony doors, which are placed between two supportive corbels and in the midst of a festoon. The building contains a lot of balconies in all shapes and sizes, which are all secured with beautifully decorated wrought iron railings.
The building before the 2018 renovation