10.09.2018 Exhibition brings us back to the masterpieces of Sofia’s first architect - Antonin Kolar

Just before Sofia City’s Day, the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB) and the Regional Museum of History are preparing an exhibition dedicated to Sofia’s first urban architect - the Czech Antonín Vaclav Kolar. The exhibition can be visited between September 14th and October 3rd and for the first time there will be a Kolar creation from the royal waiting room at Sofia Railway Station, which was restored with the support of BDB. Premiere airing of the documentary in memory of the architect will be presented by Bulgarian National Television.
Historic buildings not only shape the appearance of every city, but are also real "precious box with memories" filled with urban memory and history. Under the initiative of Bulgarian Development Bank, all the buildings and public spaces designed by Antonin Kolar will be presented for the very first time together under one roof at the Regional Museum of History – Sofia. The occasion is the 140th anniversary of Sofia’s first city architect appointment.
Appointed on May, 4th 1878 as "Chief Architect" of the future Bulgarian capital, the 37-year-old Kolar devoted his entire work and talent to transform the original Oriental village of about 11,000 inhabitants, 3100 houses and 20 mosques into a modern European city. "Curvy streets between low houses of wood and clay, oriental shops, terrible mud, huge puddles ..." – this is how Sofia is described by the Viennese Konstantin Irechek. He arrived in the Bulgarian capital during the winter of 1879 and later summarized in his diary that "Sofia is the Bulgarian Venice, but all in mud “. The architect-engineer Antonin (Adolf) Kolar created the first urban plan of the new capital and also created important public buildings and public spaces. Among them are the City Garden, the monument of Vassil Levski, the Ministry of War, the Military School, Sofia Railway Station, the Central Officer's Club which was back then a main point of all public events and celebrations. The construction of the legendary Grand Hotel "Bulgaria” was initiated in 1881. It was built in "Viennese style", based on Kolar’s project and as luxurious as all other upscale hotels in Europe.
The building, owned by Bulgarian Development Bank, has been restored and is an example for the restoration of our cultural heritage as well as the award winner of “Building of the Year and a cultural monument with regional importance”. As a result of all the skills and hard work of the first urban designer, along with other European architects and engineers, the new look of Sofia has emerged and has turned into the "little Vienna" and highly admired by the travelers.

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