bg Sofia

Nikola Bochev House

- Slavyanska Street 13 -
The construction of the residential building took place somewhere between 1905 and 1907 and was built for the Bulgarian officer Nikola Dimov Bochev, who was born on December 25, 1858, in . In 1879, he graduated from the first graduating class of the Sofia Military School with the rank of second lieutenant. He was enrolled in the Rumelia training battalion of the Eastern Rumelia Militia. After that, he served in the eighth Infantry Regiment and the headquarters of the Eastern Rumelia Militia.

At the beginning of the , as the rank of captain, the company he commanded, remained on the Turkish border. Later, they participated in the mastering of the Battle of as part of the Infantry Regiment. After the war, he commanded many different infantry divisions and on November 15, 1900, he was promoted to the rank of major general. He was married to Olga Stefanova Bocheva with whom he had two sons and two daughters. Nikola Dimov Bochev passed away in 1940, in Sofia, at the age of 81.

After the end of the , during the winter of 1946, the Metropolitan Library was housed in the building. The library team began to repair the damage caused by the of the building, which was not comfortable to work in. Despite the difficulties, the Metropolitan Library was housed in the building for 12 years.
Nikola Dimov Bochev in May 1905 standing second from the left
The Neo-Classical building features a lovely wrought iron with a small balcony on top of it that's secured with a wrought iron railing. The balcony, which is placed on top of the that covers the main entrance, is secured with a stone balustrade that contains the same as the that can be admired underneath the second floor windows. Above two of these windows, you'll either see a pointed or a straight , which are both supported by two . The building also features many and a column, all of which are crowned with a Doric . The strip of , which is placed underneath the roof contains dentils that are curved at the bottom. The banister of the stairs that leads to the main entrance door, as well as the fence that secures the premises is beautifully decorated with floral ornamentation and .
An old photo showing the building