bg Sofia

Former State Printing Office

- 19 February Street 1 -
Immediately after the , the need arose for the construction of a state printing institute. As early as May 31, 1880, the Minister of Finance, , proposed in the National Assembly to vote on a loan for the establishment of a State Printing Office in the capital. Without any objections, the deputies, give their consent, but a problem arises, to whom to entrust the implementation of the idea. This task was assigned to , who in the summer of 1880, was sent for a short time to specialize in graphic and printing work in . He returned from the capital of Austria-Hungary, together with the first foreign masters and with the necessary printing machines and materials. The construction of the production building, which later turned into an educational building, started in 1885 and was completed in 1887 according to a design that was created by the Austrian architect Friedrich Schwamberger.
The building in 1887
The foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Petko Karavelov on May 14, 1885, and construction began vigorously. But construction was delayed by a number of fateful events such as the of Bulgaria and the , with the result that the construction took two years to complete. In the following decades, the development of the State Printing Office went in a positive direction. Its mechanical equipment is being improved, and the administrative and technical staff is increasing. In 1923, a special school of typography and graphic arts was opened at the printing house. At the end of the 1930s, it used 280 different types of machines, and the workforce had already grown to 720 people working in the various departments including typesetting, linotype, stereotype, typesetting, printing, litho offset, bookbinding, and graphics. The State Gazette, postage stamps, and cards, bonds, checks, art albums, multi-colored posters, stationery, and others are printed here.
The staff working on the printing presses
The building of the State Printing Office was burned down during the Anglo-American of Sofia, which took place between 1943 and 1944. From that time on, the State Printing Office was no longer housed in the building. The building was completely restored in 1986 according to the project of the Bulgarian architect . On November 5, 1985, the National Gallery of Foreign Art opened its doors in the building. A large portion of the donations was made through a fund, which was established by in the 1980s. Since May 2015, the collections of the National Gallery for Foreign Art are exhibited together with the 19th and 20th-century collections of the National Art Gallery, and for this purpose, the building was upgraded.
An old postcard showing the building
On top of the part of the Neo-Classical building, you'll be able to see a majestic scaly sheet dome that contains multiple smaller domes, as well as dormers, which are all crowned with a . The somewhat smaller domes that you can see on both sides also contribute to the majestic appearance of the building. In front of the central dome, you can see a protruded part that contains a swan neck and a segmental , which is flanked by two more segmental pediments. The that can be admired around the entire building, are either crowned with a Doric or a Corinthian . This floor also features a lot of , some of which contain a decorative vase, while the other six contain statues that resemble plastic arts, glory, architecture, thought, library, and fertility, which are all created by the Bulgarian sculptor . On top of two of the windows that are placed on the second floor, you can adorn a pointed pediment. A stately wide stair leads to the in which the main entrance of the building is located.
The building after the Anglo-American bombing