bg Sofia

Former Central Cooperative Bank

- Ivan Vazov Street 1 -
This is another project of the Bulgarian architect , which was built in 1912. The sculptures are the work of the sculptor Richard Hardy, who got the job after winning a competition. The building was initially built with only three floors. Later on, two extra floors were added, which was realized by the team of architects , and . In 1910, the Bulgarian Central Cooperative Bank was founded on the idea of ​​the then Finance Minister Andrey Lyapchev and is the fourth state bank in Bulgaria. It is owned by the National Bank of Bulgaria and the Agricultural Bank of Bulgaria. In 1934 it was merged with the Bulgarian Agricultural Bank to become the Bulgarian Agricultural and Cooperative Bank.
An old photo showing the building with only three floors
The first thing you will see is the symmetrical decorative corner, which repeats itself on the right side of the main entrance. The of the large window on the first floor is decorated with foliage. Between the windows, you can see a ending the column of blocks. The beautiful decorative laurel leaves finish it off. The second and fourth floors contain a with a total of eleven . On top of the windows, you can see more guttae and also a , which is placed in the center of the open pointed . Above the windows on the third floor, the goes in a segmental form and contains different-sized . A lavishly decorated cartouche was placed in the segmental part of the cornice. Above the cartouche, you can see a of a lion's head. This spectacle is surrounded by two and floral decorations.
The building in its first stage
The alluring wrought iron main entrance door, which is decorated with acanthus foliage, garlands, and , is flanked by two . The two atlantes are carrying the balcony above them. The four that are carrying the rest of the weight are decorated with lion head protomes. The windows on the second floor are topped with segmental pediments and are flanked by round-shaped , which are crowned with Ionic . In the frieze above it, you can see two more cartouches. The pilasters, which span from the third to the fourth floor are topped with a Corinthian capital.

The , which is located on the southeast corner, is crowned with a dome. On top of the dome, there is a sculpture of a group of three men, that are holding up the globe. This sculpture was created by .
The beautiful main entrance door