bg Sofia

Former Credit Bank

- Knyaz Aleksandar I Street 6 -
The construction of the administrative building took place between 1897 and 1898 and was built according to a project of the Italian architect . It was built to house the Bulgarian Credit Bank, of which the main shareholder is the German Deutsche Bank. For most of its existence, it was the largest bank in the country with mostly private capital. The Bulgarian Credit Bank continued to be an economic pillar in the country even in the difficult years of the , until on December 23, 1947, it was nationalized by the communist authorities. As a bank operating with German capital, it became Soviet property in accordance with the of 1947. Later, the Soviet Union returned it to Bulgaria and it was merged into the Bulgarian National Bank.
An old photo created around 1910 shows the building on the right
Later on, the building housed the State Lottery, which idea arose in 1922, but was only realized on December 3, 1935. However, the first lottery was organized in 1892 at the exhibition by the prominent Bulgarian public figure, diplomat, financier, writer, and agronomist . The tickets were printed in , and the price of the ticket was one lev. Later, in 1898 by a degree of Tsar of Bulgaria, another lottery called the Sofia City Class Lottery was established with a guarantee of the state. From 1898 until the , the lottery was run by the Metropolitan Municipality. The first draw of the State Lottery was drawn on April 5, 1936, in the salon of the Military Club in Sofia. During the years of the Second World War, the State Lottery ceased its activity and was resumed only in 1958, when a State Cash Lottery was established by a Decree of the Presidium of the National Assembly. In 1999, the Parliament passed the Law on Gambling, under which the State Cash Lottery acquired the status of a state enterprise and became an independent legal entity.
The drawing of the winning numbers was done with similar spheres
The mansard roof of the Neo-Renaissance building contains multiple dormers, some of which are crowned with a segmental . The roof is supported by a lot of , which are placed within the frieze. A straight pediment is placed above the fourth floor windows, which are either supported by two or three corbels with an motif in their midst. The pointed pediments, which are placed above some of the third floor windows, are supported by two corbels and adorned with strips of , as well as a to which two are attached. A is placed above the two , which either contains what looks like the intertwined letters E.T. or the year 1898. Underneath the cornice that separates both the second and third floor, you can see two different-sized strips of dentils, one of which is adorned with foliage. The second floor windows are flanked by that are either crowned with an Ionic or a Corinthian . All of the circle-top windows of the second and first floors feature a keystone in their midst.
An old photo showing the building in the distance
The building features four that are secured with a lavishly decorated wrought iron railing, which also counts for the central balcony that's supported by three corbels. The other balconets contain the same as the stone balustrades that secure the other two balconies. While the bottom of all the balconies is embellished with a , only two balconies are adorned with two decorative vases. These two balconies are supported by two corbels each, which are decorated with , as well as . Above one of the entrances that can be admired underneath one of these balconies, you'll be able to see a lavishly decorated keystone that's surrounded by a garland. The are adorned with a decorative shield and floral ornamentation. The wrought iron-barred windows of the first floor are embellished with garlands and volutes.
An old photo from 1910 showing the building