Image Descriptions
Historical information
The headquarters of the former Bulgarian Communist Party is part of Largo, an ensemble of three socialist buildings, whose construction was completed in 1957 [bibliography 1].
The intention behind the project was to become the new representative centre of the city. Today it is considered to be one of the main examples of the architecture of socialist classicism in south-eastern Europe.
The ensemble consists of the former Party House (the former headquarters of the now-defunct Bulgarian Communist Party), now housing the administrative offices of the unicameral Parliament, in the centre, and two side buildings: one that houses today the TZUM shopping centre and the Bulgarian Government and the other is occupied today by the Presidential Office, Sofia Hotel Balkan and the Ministry of Education.
The centre of the city, damaged by the bombing of Sofia in World War II, was released in the fall of 1952 so that the construction of new buildings could begin in the following years. The fountain between the Presidential Office and the old national archaeological museum was set up in 1958 [bibliography 2].
The cobbled square around which the whole is centred is called Nezavisimost Square (Independence). Nezavisimost Square is formed by Knyaz Aleksandar Dondukov Boulevard and Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard, which joins from the east and continues with Todor Aleksandrov Boulevard to the west of Largo. The statue also included a statue of Vladimir Lenin, which was replaced in 2000 with one of St. Sophia [bibliography 1].
Bibliography :
- adevărul.ro, available on https://adevarul.ro/life-style/travel/12-motive-turist-trebui-viziteze-bulgaria-cea-mai-ieftina-tara-europa-daca-exista-raiul-pamant-fi-1_58fa15475ab6550cb870ee69/index.html available on October 17th, 2019
- monkeytravel.org, available on https://web.archive.org/web/20060227192248/http://www.monkeytravel.org/bul2.html available on October 17th, 2019
