bg Sofia

Yordan Dzhumaliev House

- Slavyanska Street 18 -
The construction of the residential and commercial building was finished in 1888 and the design came from the Viennese architect . It was built for the entrepreneur Yordan Dzhumaliev, who was born in 1858 in . He was married to Tsveta Pavlovich, which was the niece of the great artist . Dimitar was one of their two sons, who was married to Ekaterina, which was the granddaughter of , a politician of the Bulgarian elite after the .

Family legend has it that when he was 19 years old, he set off on foot from Ruse to , where he swam across the Danube at night to warn Russian troops about the location of Turkish forces in the area. Again, according to family memory, personally took an interest in the young man, gave him a gold watch and made him his adjutant. After the war, he sent him to study at the Postal School in and even left him a substantial sum in his will.

In the 1880's he moved to Sofia where he lived until his death in 1914. He played an important role in the construction of the railway line Tsaribrod-Sofia-Vakarel, which connected Bulgaria with Europe.
Yordan Dzhumaliev
Yordan Dzhumaliev's grandson, Yordan Dzhumaliev, also lived in the building until his death. He worked as a director at the Bulgarian National Television for 40 years.
Yordan Dzhumaliev's his grandson with the same name
The pinky-white building was built in the styles of Neo-Classical and Neo-Baroque. The most eye-catching feature of the building is the balcony with its beautifully decorated piers and curved wrought iron railing. The three that support the balcony are decorated with foliage, , and what seems like the mythological creature . Another feature that stands out are the on the second floor, which are crowned with a Composite . The on top of the circle top windows are also decorated with acanthus foliage. Underneath the roof , you'll see some with a pretty large space in between them.
An old photo showing the building