bg Shumen

Yoan Ekzarh Balgarski High School

- Preslav Street 1 -
The construction of the educational building started in 1904 and was completed in 1912 and was built according to a design of the Bulgarian architect . It was built for the Men's High School, which was created in the 1880s, after the merger of the Shumen Three-Class Men's School and the Shumen Pedagogical School. On September 17, 1912, Tsar declared martial law, and mobilization for the was announced in the country. During the war, the school was closed and the building was used as a requisition warehouse, a hospital, it was a headquarters, and a commandant's office.

Since 1919, the building serves as a school and changed its name in 1922 to Men's High School. In the 1980s, the building housed the Sports School, and at the end of the 1990s, the Humanitarian High School, which is the predecessor of the Bulgarian Secondary School.
An old postcard showing the building
The Eclectic building which contains some Art Nouveau elements, features a total of five top gables, one of which differs from the other four and can be seen above the main entrance door. The top gables, as well as the two piers that flank them, are adorned with geometric forms. This also counts for the rest of the building, like the and the multilayered . Some of the pilasters are also adorned with a , which is embellished with two hanging garlands. Some parts of the frieze are brightened up with that are adorned with .
An old photo showing the building