bg Sofia

Angel Kuyumdzhiyski House

- Oborishte Street 27 -
The residential and administrative building was constructed somewhere between 1928 and 1929 and was built according to the design of the Bulgarian architects and Dimitar Koev. It was built for the Bulgarian, Spanish, and American financier, banker, merchant, and agent Angel Kuyumdzhiyski, who was born in in 1886. He graduated from the French Agricultural School in and then worked as a teacher at the Viticulture School in . In 1911, he worked as a clerk in the Balkan Bank and became rapidly rich, most likely from currency speculation. Together with like-minded people, he founded the Franco-Belgian Bank, which soon grew into the Franco-Bulgarian Bank. He became a member of the board of directors, as well as the vice-chairman, of multiple joint-stock companies.
Angel Kuyumdzhiyski
At the beginning of 1940 he left Bulgaria, and went to first and after that to . Under the name Angelo Kuyumdziyski, he became a colonel in the United States intelligence service. In 1943, on behalf of the State Department, he participated in the preparation of negotiations for the exit of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from the . A lot of other information about him is uncertain, like when he died exactly, because of his work for the United States intelligence service.

The building was built in the Neo-Baroque style, which is why Kuyumdzhiyski's friends believe that it does not correspond to modern architectural trends. This prompted Kuyumdzhiyski to build a new house and rent this building out to the French government for its legation in Sofia in 1934. Two years later, in 1936, it was bought and turned into the Diplomatic Residence of the French Legation.
An old photo from the 1970s shows the building
A strip of is placed underneath the that separates the scaly sheet metal mansard roof, which contains loads of dormers, from the rest of the building. Above one of the dormers, located on the east side of the building, you can admire a richly decorated , which is placed in the open part of the pointed . On the same side, you can also see a bay window that has a balcony on top of it, which is secured with a stone balustrade that contains . A of the Greek god , with above it a beautiful fragment that contains the initials B.B., is placed above the entrance that leads to the bay window. On the east side, as well as the west side, you can see a number of separate cartouches that are surrounded by beautiful floral ornamentation. On the south side, you'll be able to see two ornamental shells, which are also surrounded by floral ornamentation. The that are placed above the segmental first floor windows are embellished with foliage. The give the building a solid appearance, which also applies to the cast iron gate that secures the premises.
Part of the interior in 2022