bg Sofia

Former Bulgarian National Bank Building

- Aleksandar Battenberg Street 12 -
The Bulgarian National Bank was established in 1879 by the Provisional Russian Government and was among the first state institutions of the newly liberated Principality. The former Bulgarian National Bank building was designed by the Swiss architect and was built in 1895. In 1919 the building was upgraded by a project of the Bulgarian architect . It was the home of the Bulgarian National Bank until the construction of their new building was completed in 1939. The building was severely damaged during the by Allied forces in the . The roof was destroyed and the sculptural panel decorating the of the building was lost forever.
The building of the Bulgarian National Bank in the early twentieth century
The building, which is built in the styles of Neo-Baroque and Neo-Classical, can be viewed from three sides. The main entrance can be found on the east side of the building and is crowned with a copper roofed dome. Just underneath the dome, you can see a , and a little bit further down you'll see two female statues. The two that can be seen around the entire building both contain a strip of but they are different in size. The , which are located in the frieze on the first floor are adorned with six each. The that stretch all the way from the second until the third floor are crowned with a Corinthian , while the smaller pilasters that flank the windows on the second floor are crowned with a Doric capital. The round shaped pilasters that flank the windows on the west side of the building are crowned with an Ionic capital. In between the windows you can see a of a lion's head, which is holding a in its mouth.
An old photo from around 1910 showing the building